Josh Hilden's Blog, page 25
July 29, 2013
Advice To New Writers 10: “Please Look at My Book and Love Me!”
You’ve written, edited, rewrote, and published your book. So now you are a famous author, men and women want you, riches are pouring in, and Stephen King is your best friend. The two of you take walks every day and you make sure the wildly driven vans don’t strike him.
I am so right … right?
No, of course I’m not right. Most likely you have sold little if any copies of your book. I mean fuck my parents haven’t even read my novels I can only imagine how hard it has been for you to get strangers to look at your book. So with that in mind I am going to give you another handy dandy “Josh Bullet List” of what has worked or me when it’s come to promoting my own work.
Notice I said me.
Allow me to reiterate, ME!
I make no guarantees that any of this advice will work for you I just know I have gotten so decent results. These are presented in no order because I am too damn lazy to decide what ones are more important.
• Twitter – Twitter is a good way to promote your work but if you go in there and do nothing but whore your book you will get zero help. I would suggest before you start screaming “Look at my Books!” in the Twitterverse you take a couple of months to build followers and interact with them. Remember it’s a marathon not a sprint, I will be repeating this.
• Facebook – For the love of god if you are an Indie Author and not on Facebook you are an idiot. Facebook provides you with multiple ways of promoting your work. From the groups and pages centered on the topic of your book (trust me no matter what you write there will be many groups and communities to whore yourself to) to paid targeting advertising. Although let me clear if you are going to avail yourself of the Facebook paid advertising start small, start with a couple of days and a budget of less than $20.
• Mailing Lists – Every writer needs a mailing list. A mailing list allows you to stay in contact with people who actually read your work. My only advice to you is to update your list at least once a month. If you fail to regularly your list it will be minimized in its value.
• Goodreads, Shelfari (ETC) – The book community sites are useful in promotion. It is up to you to make sure that your entries on these sites are kept updated. For Goodreads in particular bear in mind that the reviews over there tend to be a lot more critical than Amazon reviews.
• Amazon Author Page – Set up you Amazon Author page and keep it current. If you feel so inclined make sure to set up your Amazon UK page as well. Seriously I have a disproportionately high number of sales and reviews across the pond. (Love you people in the UK!)
• Website – I cannot even begin to tell you the number of authors I know personally who DO NOT HAVE A WEBSITE! Websites are easy to set up and cheap. If you don’t want to own your own domain (Shameless plug www.joshhilden.com) there are many free sites. Google and Wordpress being the big 2. But I say screw it and pony up the cash and buy your site. Either way you need a site where you can direct people so they can learn about you and your work.
• Free Copies – I know it may sound counterintuitive but hear me out. Free copies will eventually lead to more sales. There are 2 big options when it comes to playing the freebie game.
o Reviewers & Bloggers – Sending out free copies of your book (digital or print) to reviewers and bloggers is often seen as a good way to drive reviews and thus encourage sales. I have done this and the results have been so-so. Few if any sales have been the result of these freebies.
o KDP & Giveaways – KDP is the Amazon Kindle program that in return for a period of exclusivity allows you to give away a limited number of free copies and participate in the lending program. There is a debate raging amongst Indie Writers as to whether or not the pros outweigh the cons. I don’t know in the long run where I fall in the argument but for now all of my work is only available on Kindle. I love giveaways, giving free copies to people who want to read my work makes me feel amazing. I don’t know if it has helped with sales but I love the reaction of people who get free copies.
• Networking – Now before you run screaming about this being the 21st century and networking have gone the way of the mid afternoon cocktail and the secretarial blowjob hear me out. Networking with other indie writers, publishers, and reviewers may be you number one way to broaden your name recognition, and trust me kids that is a good thing. Networking can get you invited to conventions, events, and to submit to anthologies and other writing projects (amongst other things).
• Don’t Be Afraid – This is my last bit of advice, don’t be afraid to whore your art. I am not saying go out there and be a dick about it. Be respectful when you are putting your book out there to be seen and appreciated. Ask before posting or promoting your work in Social Network sites. Don’t spam your followers. And try to at least be entertaining when you are promoting. Remember, just because you’re a whore doesn’t mean you need to be a horrible person. (Stolen from the Nostalgia Critic Moulin Rouge Review)
Alright that’s it for today. Next time I am going to tell you what you should and maybe shouldn’t do when asshats and jack holes slag on your work. Until them write, play, have some sex, and then write some more!
- Josh
I am so right … right?
No, of course I’m not right. Most likely you have sold little if any copies of your book. I mean fuck my parents haven’t even read my novels I can only imagine how hard it has been for you to get strangers to look at your book. So with that in mind I am going to give you another handy dandy “Josh Bullet List” of what has worked or me when it’s come to promoting my own work.
Notice I said me.
Allow me to reiterate, ME!
I make no guarantees that any of this advice will work for you I just know I have gotten so decent results. These are presented in no order because I am too damn lazy to decide what ones are more important.
• Twitter – Twitter is a good way to promote your work but if you go in there and do nothing but whore your book you will get zero help. I would suggest before you start screaming “Look at my Books!” in the Twitterverse you take a couple of months to build followers and interact with them. Remember it’s a marathon not a sprint, I will be repeating this.
• Facebook – For the love of god if you are an Indie Author and not on Facebook you are an idiot. Facebook provides you with multiple ways of promoting your work. From the groups and pages centered on the topic of your book (trust me no matter what you write there will be many groups and communities to whore yourself to) to paid targeting advertising. Although let me clear if you are going to avail yourself of the Facebook paid advertising start small, start with a couple of days and a budget of less than $20.
• Mailing Lists – Every writer needs a mailing list. A mailing list allows you to stay in contact with people who actually read your work. My only advice to you is to update your list at least once a month. If you fail to regularly your list it will be minimized in its value.
• Goodreads, Shelfari (ETC) – The book community sites are useful in promotion. It is up to you to make sure that your entries on these sites are kept updated. For Goodreads in particular bear in mind that the reviews over there tend to be a lot more critical than Amazon reviews.
• Amazon Author Page – Set up you Amazon Author page and keep it current. If you feel so inclined make sure to set up your Amazon UK page as well. Seriously I have a disproportionately high number of sales and reviews across the pond. (Love you people in the UK!)
• Website – I cannot even begin to tell you the number of authors I know personally who DO NOT HAVE A WEBSITE! Websites are easy to set up and cheap. If you don’t want to own your own domain (Shameless plug www.joshhilden.com) there are many free sites. Google and Wordpress being the big 2. But I say screw it and pony up the cash and buy your site. Either way you need a site where you can direct people so they can learn about you and your work.
• Free Copies – I know it may sound counterintuitive but hear me out. Free copies will eventually lead to more sales. There are 2 big options when it comes to playing the freebie game.
o Reviewers & Bloggers – Sending out free copies of your book (digital or print) to reviewers and bloggers is often seen as a good way to drive reviews and thus encourage sales. I have done this and the results have been so-so. Few if any sales have been the result of these freebies.
o KDP & Giveaways – KDP is the Amazon Kindle program that in return for a period of exclusivity allows you to give away a limited number of free copies and participate in the lending program. There is a debate raging amongst Indie Writers as to whether or not the pros outweigh the cons. I don’t know in the long run where I fall in the argument but for now all of my work is only available on Kindle. I love giveaways, giving free copies to people who want to read my work makes me feel amazing. I don’t know if it has helped with sales but I love the reaction of people who get free copies.
• Networking – Now before you run screaming about this being the 21st century and networking have gone the way of the mid afternoon cocktail and the secretarial blowjob hear me out. Networking with other indie writers, publishers, and reviewers may be you number one way to broaden your name recognition, and trust me kids that is a good thing. Networking can get you invited to conventions, events, and to submit to anthologies and other writing projects (amongst other things).
• Don’t Be Afraid – This is my last bit of advice, don’t be afraid to whore your art. I am not saying go out there and be a dick about it. Be respectful when you are putting your book out there to be seen and appreciated. Ask before posting or promoting your work in Social Network sites. Don’t spam your followers. And try to at least be entertaining when you are promoting. Remember, just because you’re a whore doesn’t mean you need to be a horrible person. (Stolen from the Nostalgia Critic Moulin Rouge Review)
Alright that’s it for today. Next time I am going to tell you what you should and maybe shouldn’t do when asshats and jack holes slag on your work. Until them write, play, have some sex, and then write some more!
- Josh
July 25, 2013
Advice to New Writers Part 9: Self Publish or Perish One (The Prep Work)
Let’s see where we are shall we? Here is a quick list of the steps we have taken to get to this point. We will be brief, but be patient the rundown is needed to advance the project.
1. You identified, stalked, and successfully trapped your idea in a bulletproof cage
2. You grew the idea, allowed it to blow like some kind of mental yeast demon
3. You committed the idea and expanded tale to the page, or the electronic cloud if you aren’t a complete luddite
4. You allowed the rough draft to marinate and then proceeded to revise the work, wielding your pen (or delete button) like a machete as opposed to a scalpel
5. After finishing your revision you sent the still bleeding and stitched work to editors or v beta readers and allowed them to give you their unbiased blue copies … and you actually LISTENED to what they had to say
6. Upon getting all of the edited copies back you incorporated suggestions and edits into your final draft
7. You gave the entire work one last polish. Please for the love of all the gods who may exist stop after this step, over editing is as bad as no editing … if not worse!
Now what you have in your hands, or on your screen you non Luddite, is a finished book. You should definitely be proud of yourself, for every hundred people who set out to write a book I am willing to bet no more than 5 or 6 actually make it to the final hard polish stage.
WOO HOO!!!
Now you are faced with a hard choice. Or maybe, considering you have slogged through the write and rewrite process it’s an easy choice. You have to decide whether or not you are going to publish your work … HAHAHAHA!!!
Of course you are going to publish. If you have gone through all of this and have been reading these essays from the beginning and you are NOT planning to publish your work that would be crazy and you would also be wasting my time which I could have spent writing something that would make me some money and isn’t just an exercise in mental masturbation. And since you are NOT crazy and you have desire for me to travel cross country and burn down your childhood clubhouse with all of your baby pictures and your great grandmothers recipe for pie inside we have nothing to worry about.
Right?
So now you have a few things you need to do before you publish your work. I am going to state right here and now that I am not an advocate for traditional publishing (Agent, Editor, and Publishing Company) for new writers. Five years ago I had a different opinion but the resources available online and the rise of the digital book has changed the publishing world forever.
Why in the name of Zod would anyone without a guaranteed contract and substantial amount of money up front would a writer sign away the rights to his/her book to a publisher who will only give you pennies on the dollar? I am not kidding kids. A traditional publisher (usually) tries their damndest to strip as much of the profit as they can away from the author, especially a new author. Unless you are very lucky you WILL be fucked by a traditional publisher. Accept it, stop whining about people like EL James and Stephanie Meyer, and move the fuck on. They are the exception not the rule.
When I say traditional I mean the classic Big 6 and the large secondary publishers. I am NOT talking about the quickly growing field of feisty and hungry Indie Publishers out there. Many of these amazing companies were founded by scrappy Selfie Publishers who were tired of seeing the new kids gets fucked over by the established acts. My only advice to you in regards to signing with one of the Indies is to talk to writers who have moved on from the company and not the writers who are still under contract. If a former writer recommends them as a good company to work with then it may be a good indication that they are a reputable outfit. But still have a lawyer look over anything you don’t easily understand in any contract you are asked to sign.
Now we are proceeding with the theory that you are self publishing. With that in mind here is a short list of things I have found necessary to do before my writing makes it into circulation.
1. You need a cover. Seriously a good cover can make a major difference in selling a few copies and selling a few hundred copies. Go to the art sites, such as deviant art, and find a freelance artist whose style you like and ask them if they are interested in working with you. Make sure to pay them and give them proper credit in the book.
2. Practice laying out a book and cover. There are plenty of templates out there for the various self publishing sites (Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords … etc) try them all out and search YouTube for walk through videos. Once you have acquainted yourself with how to upload a book and cover do it. It really is that simple.
3. Once the book is uploaded proof it thoroughly. Either order a physical proof when available or read the digital proof. Make the needed changes (there will almost always need to be a changes) and re-upload it.
4. For the love of god follow the direction for each self publishing site. They all work different and you need to take your time. I have made more mistakes which later needed fixing because I was in too big of a hurry and fucked things up.
5. Wait as the company (Amazon, B & N, Kobo … etc) checks the book and publishes it. It usually takes less than 24 hours.
6. Celebrate.
That’s it kids you have self published and can call yourself an author. Feels pretty fucking good doesn’t it? Well I have bad news for you, everything you have done up until this point was the easy part. I wish I could tell you that all you need to do now is wait for the cash and fame to roll in.
But the world does not work that way.
Next time we talk about marketing, social media, and how to deal with all of the assholes on Amazon and Good Reads.
- Josh
1. You identified, stalked, and successfully trapped your idea in a bulletproof cage
2. You grew the idea, allowed it to blow like some kind of mental yeast demon
3. You committed the idea and expanded tale to the page, or the electronic cloud if you aren’t a complete luddite
4. You allowed the rough draft to marinate and then proceeded to revise the work, wielding your pen (or delete button) like a machete as opposed to a scalpel
5. After finishing your revision you sent the still bleeding and stitched work to editors or v beta readers and allowed them to give you their unbiased blue copies … and you actually LISTENED to what they had to say
6. Upon getting all of the edited copies back you incorporated suggestions and edits into your final draft
7. You gave the entire work one last polish. Please for the love of all the gods who may exist stop after this step, over editing is as bad as no editing … if not worse!
Now what you have in your hands, or on your screen you non Luddite, is a finished book. You should definitely be proud of yourself, for every hundred people who set out to write a book I am willing to bet no more than 5 or 6 actually make it to the final hard polish stage.
WOO HOO!!!
Now you are faced with a hard choice. Or maybe, considering you have slogged through the write and rewrite process it’s an easy choice. You have to decide whether or not you are going to publish your work … HAHAHAHA!!!
Of course you are going to publish. If you have gone through all of this and have been reading these essays from the beginning and you are NOT planning to publish your work that would be crazy and you would also be wasting my time which I could have spent writing something that would make me some money and isn’t just an exercise in mental masturbation. And since you are NOT crazy and you have desire for me to travel cross country and burn down your childhood clubhouse with all of your baby pictures and your great grandmothers recipe for pie inside we have nothing to worry about.
Right?
So now you have a few things you need to do before you publish your work. I am going to state right here and now that I am not an advocate for traditional publishing (Agent, Editor, and Publishing Company) for new writers. Five years ago I had a different opinion but the resources available online and the rise of the digital book has changed the publishing world forever.
Why in the name of Zod would anyone without a guaranteed contract and substantial amount of money up front would a writer sign away the rights to his/her book to a publisher who will only give you pennies on the dollar? I am not kidding kids. A traditional publisher (usually) tries their damndest to strip as much of the profit as they can away from the author, especially a new author. Unless you are very lucky you WILL be fucked by a traditional publisher. Accept it, stop whining about people like EL James and Stephanie Meyer, and move the fuck on. They are the exception not the rule.
When I say traditional I mean the classic Big 6 and the large secondary publishers. I am NOT talking about the quickly growing field of feisty and hungry Indie Publishers out there. Many of these amazing companies were founded by scrappy Selfie Publishers who were tired of seeing the new kids gets fucked over by the established acts. My only advice to you in regards to signing with one of the Indies is to talk to writers who have moved on from the company and not the writers who are still under contract. If a former writer recommends them as a good company to work with then it may be a good indication that they are a reputable outfit. But still have a lawyer look over anything you don’t easily understand in any contract you are asked to sign.
Now we are proceeding with the theory that you are self publishing. With that in mind here is a short list of things I have found necessary to do before my writing makes it into circulation.
1. You need a cover. Seriously a good cover can make a major difference in selling a few copies and selling a few hundred copies. Go to the art sites, such as deviant art, and find a freelance artist whose style you like and ask them if they are interested in working with you. Make sure to pay them and give them proper credit in the book.
2. Practice laying out a book and cover. There are plenty of templates out there for the various self publishing sites (Kindle, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords … etc) try them all out and search YouTube for walk through videos. Once you have acquainted yourself with how to upload a book and cover do it. It really is that simple.
3. Once the book is uploaded proof it thoroughly. Either order a physical proof when available or read the digital proof. Make the needed changes (there will almost always need to be a changes) and re-upload it.
4. For the love of god follow the direction for each self publishing site. They all work different and you need to take your time. I have made more mistakes which later needed fixing because I was in too big of a hurry and fucked things up.
5. Wait as the company (Amazon, B & N, Kobo … etc) checks the book and publishes it. It usually takes less than 24 hours.
6. Celebrate.
That’s it kids you have self published and can call yourself an author. Feels pretty fucking good doesn’t it? Well I have bad news for you, everything you have done up until this point was the easy part. I wish I could tell you that all you need to do now is wait for the cash and fame to roll in.
But the world does not work that way.
Next time we talk about marketing, social media, and how to deal with all of the assholes on Amazon and Good Reads.
- Josh
July 22, 2013
Advice to New Writers Part 8: “Sidebar – My Literary Influences”
Every writer can point to those other writers who have influenced the roots of their writing style. The people you read when you were a child or a young adult. They are the writers who shaped you and the manner in which you sling your words. They are some of the people you should always thank for showing you how it can be done and for blazing the path before you. I am willing to bet real money, and by that I mean Canadian dollars and not American, that your earliest works are heavily flavored by the works of these master crafts men and women.
Gods know that mine are.
This installment of the mutual masturbation society is going to be about who my influences are. I will also be giving you a brief rundown as to why they are my influences and in what aspects of my craft they most strongly shine. I know that right about now you are probably thinking some form of “I already know who your influences are, it’s pretty fucking obvious” but before you shut down your computer give me a few more minutes of your time. I am willing to bet that there are a few influences in my closet you won’t be able to guess.
INFLUENCES
• Stephen King: Let’s just get it out of the way. My number one literary influence is the American master of modern horror, Mr. Stephen King. The very first Stephen King book I ever read was IT. The story scared the hell out of me when I was 10 and still scares me when I reread it. That may have something to do with my terror reaction to clowns but it is also a really scary book. We will NOT be discussing the ending. The one thing I learned reading King as a young writer is to not over describe. That may sound funny considering the lengths of his books but King is actually very spare with his descriptions.
• Kevin Smith: Kevin isn’t a novelist (yet)but he is the reason I am a published novelist. He is the man who said it out loud, “Don’t go where the puck is. Go where the puck is going to be”. Admittedly he stole it from Wayne Gretzky but it is still profound. It was after reading his book “Tough Shit” that I decided to say fuck it to traditional publishing and just do this shit myself. I have never been professionally happier … thank you sir.
• Isaac Asimov: Dr. Asimov was one of the grand masters of mid 20th century science fiction. He was also super obsessed with robots and whether or not they can be just as good as real people. Asimov opened my eyes to a broader world of Science Fiction I never knew existed. Also Isaac game us Elijah Bailey and I will always love him for that.
• HP Lovecraft: The very first Lovecraft story I ever read was “The Rats in the Walls”. This was after reading Stephen Kings contribution to the Mythos the short story “Jerusalem’s Lot” when I was in 6th grade. Lovecraft has entranced me more than any other writer I have ever read. Whenever I try to build and environment and back story in a tale it is Lovecraft I turn to for inspiration. I still feel to this day I have walked the streets of Arkham Mass and tread the halls of Miskatonic University. In spite of his flaws Lovecraft taught how to build the terror without over doing it.
• Jim Kjelgaard: I bet if I had asked you to guess my final author you never would have picked Jim Kjelgaard. When I was in 3rd grade my father gave me the Young Adult (YA) novel “Big Red”. Although back then there was no real YA category and this was considered more of a Boys Adventure book. Other than the Stand I have read Big Red more than any other book in my entire life. This book ensnared me and didn’t let me go. My father bought me the sequels (Irish Red & Outlaw Red) as I finished the previous books. Those three books convinced me that what I wanted to do with my life was write. I wanted to build a world and a story that I hoped would do a Scandinavian author already years in the ground, proud.
• John Sanford: Mr. Sanford writes crime fiction. He is based in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and I had the pleasure of meeting him 15 years ago. He was the first person I ever heard articulate a maxim I have come to believe in with the fervor of a zealot. You need to treat the act of writing as a job, you have to sit your ass down in the seat and not rise until you have hit your goal for that session. Add to that Mr. Sanford giving me a love of crime fiction I had never before felt and it is easy to see how he has influenced me.
• Orson Scott Card (Honorable Mention I suppose): If I wrote this list 5 years ago Orson would have been just under King on this list. Enders Game is one of the greatest American novels of the 20th century. It shaped my style and direction more than any other SINGLE volume. Then I learned about Orson’s hate of Homosexuals/Bisexuals/Transgender people. I know this shouldn’t color my love of his writing and that I should be able to keep the man and the writer separate. But I can’t, I just can’t do it. I am a happy Bisexual man and I can’t separate who I am from what I do … therefore I can’t separate who he is from what he does.
These are my primary influences. I know some of them (most) are obvious but it is still a list I wanted to assemble for you. Your list will be different and hopefully better than mine. I just have one bit of advice when it comes to your list of influences.
Revel in them.
By this I mean don’t hide from the things that inspire you. Instead face them and identify the things within them that you love and expand them. Make them your own. Build them into something that resonates with the person that influenced you but sing out in your amazing writer’s voice.
Okay Minions that’s it for today. I promise next time we get back to the main thread of all of this and discuss the next stage of the Indie/Selfie Publishing process.
- Josh
Gods know that mine are.
This installment of the mutual masturbation society is going to be about who my influences are. I will also be giving you a brief rundown as to why they are my influences and in what aspects of my craft they most strongly shine. I know that right about now you are probably thinking some form of “I already know who your influences are, it’s pretty fucking obvious” but before you shut down your computer give me a few more minutes of your time. I am willing to bet that there are a few influences in my closet you won’t be able to guess.
INFLUENCES
• Stephen King: Let’s just get it out of the way. My number one literary influence is the American master of modern horror, Mr. Stephen King. The very first Stephen King book I ever read was IT. The story scared the hell out of me when I was 10 and still scares me when I reread it. That may have something to do with my terror reaction to clowns but it is also a really scary book. We will NOT be discussing the ending. The one thing I learned reading King as a young writer is to not over describe. That may sound funny considering the lengths of his books but King is actually very spare with his descriptions.
• Kevin Smith: Kevin isn’t a novelist (yet)but he is the reason I am a published novelist. He is the man who said it out loud, “Don’t go where the puck is. Go where the puck is going to be”. Admittedly he stole it from Wayne Gretzky but it is still profound. It was after reading his book “Tough Shit” that I decided to say fuck it to traditional publishing and just do this shit myself. I have never been professionally happier … thank you sir.
• Isaac Asimov: Dr. Asimov was one of the grand masters of mid 20th century science fiction. He was also super obsessed with robots and whether or not they can be just as good as real people. Asimov opened my eyes to a broader world of Science Fiction I never knew existed. Also Isaac game us Elijah Bailey and I will always love him for that.
• HP Lovecraft: The very first Lovecraft story I ever read was “The Rats in the Walls”. This was after reading Stephen Kings contribution to the Mythos the short story “Jerusalem’s Lot” when I was in 6th grade. Lovecraft has entranced me more than any other writer I have ever read. Whenever I try to build and environment and back story in a tale it is Lovecraft I turn to for inspiration. I still feel to this day I have walked the streets of Arkham Mass and tread the halls of Miskatonic University. In spite of his flaws Lovecraft taught how to build the terror without over doing it.
• Jim Kjelgaard: I bet if I had asked you to guess my final author you never would have picked Jim Kjelgaard. When I was in 3rd grade my father gave me the Young Adult (YA) novel “Big Red”. Although back then there was no real YA category and this was considered more of a Boys Adventure book. Other than the Stand I have read Big Red more than any other book in my entire life. This book ensnared me and didn’t let me go. My father bought me the sequels (Irish Red & Outlaw Red) as I finished the previous books. Those three books convinced me that what I wanted to do with my life was write. I wanted to build a world and a story that I hoped would do a Scandinavian author already years in the ground, proud.
• John Sanford: Mr. Sanford writes crime fiction. He is based in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and I had the pleasure of meeting him 15 years ago. He was the first person I ever heard articulate a maxim I have come to believe in with the fervor of a zealot. You need to treat the act of writing as a job, you have to sit your ass down in the seat and not rise until you have hit your goal for that session. Add to that Mr. Sanford giving me a love of crime fiction I had never before felt and it is easy to see how he has influenced me.
• Orson Scott Card (Honorable Mention I suppose): If I wrote this list 5 years ago Orson would have been just under King on this list. Enders Game is one of the greatest American novels of the 20th century. It shaped my style and direction more than any other SINGLE volume. Then I learned about Orson’s hate of Homosexuals/Bisexuals/Transgender people. I know this shouldn’t color my love of his writing and that I should be able to keep the man and the writer separate. But I can’t, I just can’t do it. I am a happy Bisexual man and I can’t separate who I am from what I do … therefore I can’t separate who he is from what he does.
These are my primary influences. I know some of them (most) are obvious but it is still a list I wanted to assemble for you. Your list will be different and hopefully better than mine. I just have one bit of advice when it comes to your list of influences.
Revel in them.
By this I mean don’t hide from the things that inspire you. Instead face them and identify the things within them that you love and expand them. Make them your own. Build them into something that resonates with the person that influenced you but sing out in your amazing writer’s voice.
Okay Minions that’s it for today. I promise next time we get back to the main thread of all of this and discuss the next stage of the Indie/Selfie Publishing process.
- Josh
July 19, 2013
Advice to New Writers Part 7: “The Blue Pen”
The time has come for you, the writer, to send your creation out into the world. I know that your creation is like a child to you and that you are terrified about what comes next. It is a dark and scary world and everyone wants to hide their creation in a padded room and protect it from the ravages of reality. But unless you are done with your journey and are setting down your pen you must open the door to the outside world and take those steps.
I wish I could tell you it will be painless … I really wish I could.
Your creation is going to be abused and it is going to get knocked around. Asshole and jack-offs are going to criticize it because they are jealous, because they didn’t write it, because gods damnit you didn’t do it “THE RIGHT WAY” which means the way they want it not the way you want it. Putting your first work out there is a lot like the first day of High School.
Actually the entire writing world is like High School. But we will discuss that later.
Don’t panic.
Don’t run away.
Don’t do your impression of an insane monkey furiously flinging poo at your enemies.
Relax, have a nice adult beverage and put your feet up. There is a step between now and thrusting your naked and raw creation into the world. So before you let all of the self righteous pricks who populate the Amazon and Good Reads forums get their claws into your story we have something left to accomplish.
Editing
You have two choices when it comes to editing your book. Well actually you have three but I am going to STRONGLY suggest you not be your own final editor, no writer should ever be his/her own final editor. That is a mantra I live by and it was reinforced by an aged writer I knew well who agreed with me and then added “Except for me” and boy when you read his work it showed.
Choice 1
Hire an editor. Seriously kids there are more editors for hire out there than you realize. The hardest part about hiring an editor is that you don’t know if you and the editor for hire will be compatible. Just as every writer has their own voice so does every editor. My suggestion would be to sample some of the works edited by editors you are interested in hiring and send out a sample. For a few buck (usually less than $25) freelance editors are more than willing to edit a short sample work so you can get a feel for their style. The only caveat I would add is a get a contract. Make it clear and simple so both you and your editor know what the terms and conditions are. Allow me to reiterate this now, and don’t worry I will hammer it in again later.
ALWAYS HAVE A CONTRACT!
Choice 2
Go out there and get yourself some Beta Readers. Beta Readers are not professional editors or proof readers. They are people you know and trust, people you are sure will be honest with their feedback. Good beta readers will find typos, continuity errors, grammar errors, and spelling errors. If you choose to go the route of the beta reader I would suggest at least three and no more than five readers. You a deep enough pool to get overlapping feedback but not so many that it becomes muddled. And even though most beta readers are not paid in money I want you t remember …
ALWAYS HAVE A CONTRACT!
When you get the first edits back from your editor or your first batch of feedback from your beta readers things get interesting. Now you have to take all of the notes, changes, suggestions, and miscellaneous bits they send you and rework the manuscript.
There is no law or rule that states you have to take all (or any) of the edits your editor/bet readers send you. Often such things are a matter of opinion and preference on the part of the editor/reader. But only a stupid writer ignores the feedback sent to them by people who are only trying to make their work better. If you have people working on your story that you trust then you would be a fool to not at least consider what they have to say.
Take your time.
Rewrite with an eye toward detail and precision.
As always, have fun.
When you have finished the last round of rewrites/revisions you have a finished product. What you have on your screen is a book, a story, a tale to entertain the masses.
Take a second to feel proud of yourself, you earned it.
Next time we discuss the things you will need to do, or at least should do, before you either publish your work or submit it for independent publication.
- Josh
I wish I could tell you it will be painless … I really wish I could.
Your creation is going to be abused and it is going to get knocked around. Asshole and jack-offs are going to criticize it because they are jealous, because they didn’t write it, because gods damnit you didn’t do it “THE RIGHT WAY” which means the way they want it not the way you want it. Putting your first work out there is a lot like the first day of High School.
Actually the entire writing world is like High School. But we will discuss that later.
Don’t panic.
Don’t run away.
Don’t do your impression of an insane monkey furiously flinging poo at your enemies.
Relax, have a nice adult beverage and put your feet up. There is a step between now and thrusting your naked and raw creation into the world. So before you let all of the self righteous pricks who populate the Amazon and Good Reads forums get their claws into your story we have something left to accomplish.
Editing
You have two choices when it comes to editing your book. Well actually you have three but I am going to STRONGLY suggest you not be your own final editor, no writer should ever be his/her own final editor. That is a mantra I live by and it was reinforced by an aged writer I knew well who agreed with me and then added “Except for me” and boy when you read his work it showed.
Choice 1
Hire an editor. Seriously kids there are more editors for hire out there than you realize. The hardest part about hiring an editor is that you don’t know if you and the editor for hire will be compatible. Just as every writer has their own voice so does every editor. My suggestion would be to sample some of the works edited by editors you are interested in hiring and send out a sample. For a few buck (usually less than $25) freelance editors are more than willing to edit a short sample work so you can get a feel for their style. The only caveat I would add is a get a contract. Make it clear and simple so both you and your editor know what the terms and conditions are. Allow me to reiterate this now, and don’t worry I will hammer it in again later.
ALWAYS HAVE A CONTRACT!
Choice 2
Go out there and get yourself some Beta Readers. Beta Readers are not professional editors or proof readers. They are people you know and trust, people you are sure will be honest with their feedback. Good beta readers will find typos, continuity errors, grammar errors, and spelling errors. If you choose to go the route of the beta reader I would suggest at least three and no more than five readers. You a deep enough pool to get overlapping feedback but not so many that it becomes muddled. And even though most beta readers are not paid in money I want you t remember …
ALWAYS HAVE A CONTRACT!
When you get the first edits back from your editor or your first batch of feedback from your beta readers things get interesting. Now you have to take all of the notes, changes, suggestions, and miscellaneous bits they send you and rework the manuscript.
There is no law or rule that states you have to take all (or any) of the edits your editor/bet readers send you. Often such things are a matter of opinion and preference on the part of the editor/reader. But only a stupid writer ignores the feedback sent to them by people who are only trying to make their work better. If you have people working on your story that you trust then you would be a fool to not at least consider what they have to say.
Take your time.
Rewrite with an eye toward detail and precision.
As always, have fun.
When you have finished the last round of rewrites/revisions you have a finished product. What you have on your screen is a book, a story, a tale to entertain the masses.
Take a second to feel proud of yourself, you earned it.
Next time we discuss the things you will need to do, or at least should do, before you either publish your work or submit it for independent publication.
- Josh
July 17, 2013
Advice to New Writers Part 6: “Odds & Ends”
Before we proceed any further with the plethora of bad advice that I have been pushing on you we need to discuss a few things that are essential to my writing process but would be subjective for everyone else. I realize this may just seem like a bout of mental masturbation but these are details I consider important. While they most likely will NOT be the things that are important to you I think it is safe to say that if you study your process you will easily compile a similar list.
My Writing Space
For me where I write is nearly as important as what I write. When I wrote my very first book, Dead Reign, I was working at Toys R Us. I was on good terms with the store manager and he had no problem allowing me to use the crappy conference room as my writing space. I wrote two novellas, one full book, and my contribution to a group written book either in the conference room or the break room of the two Toys R Us stores I worked at.
After I left Toys R Us I went to work at my current day job at the retirement community. At first I was uncertain if I would be able to write anything there. But once again I found an unnamed space where I was able to create and it was there where I penned the entire Shores of the Dead Series and every other piece of work I have produced since.
But Josh, what about writing at your house?
For me it doesn’t work, or at least it is extremely difficult for me to write in my home. I do not have a dedicated office and with three kids still living at home it is nearly impossible for me to find the time or solitude I need to write. I have managed to turn out some work while at home but it has always been difficult and not very fun.
Writing should always be fun.
My Writing Environment
I get picky when it comes to writing. There are certain things I seem to need in order to create at an acceptable level. This a simple list of things I try to make happen or have available when writing.
• Temperature – I need a cool environment when writing. I always make sure the air conditioner is set as cold as possible. I also always bring a portable fan with me. The combination of extra cooling and breeze in my face helps me relax and concentrate
• Noises – I find it hard to write in complete silence. Sometimes I like to have music in the background while I write and sometimes I just want the white noise of the AC and the fan. More and more I put on a podcast very low in the background, the sounds of people having a quiet conversation that I am able to drown out and ignore has yielded some productive sessions. The one thing I do not want on is the television. TV shows and Movies draw me out of writing at the best and actually leach into my tales at worst
• Linear/Nonlinear – I am unable to write anything from beginning to end. I have to jump around and write in bits and pieces. The perfect example it the Shores of the Dead. I had the very last chapter of book 3 roughed out on the page before I was half way done with book 1. I work in isolated scenes that I proceed to knit together with bridging segments later on. I rarely work with outlines and that all leads to a kind of chaotic style of writing that works for mw but which I do not recommend for anyone else.
• Food & Drink – I like to eat and drink. Just look at a picture of me and you will know that to be an absolute truth. The sun is hot, water is wet, and Josh likes to eat and drink. When I am writing ice water and nuts are my primary fodder. Sometimes I will throw iced tea into the mix.
• Implements – When I was a teenager and young adult I was a long hand writer. Allow me to put this in perspective. I hated type writers and outside of school computers were to fucking expensive and unavailable. When I was in 8th grade I wrote my first really competent story, a mashup rip off of Star Trek 2 and The Abyss on my grandmother’s computer. An Ancient Tandy. These days I work solely on my lap top and consider myself very spoiled. I have an entire trunk of legal pads (my old school paper of choice) filled with short stories and busted novels too painfully bad to look at.
Outside Input
When I am writing a first draft I want absolutely zero input from others. I don’t want to tell you what my book is about and I don’t want to hear your ideas. So for the love of all of the gods that have never been please leave me alone! It’s not that I do not appreciate interest from friends and family but I don’t want it when I am trying to cut my work out of the creative granite.
Research
This may piss some people off and I know it does irritate many but I do no research during the first draft stage. When I have completed the first draft and received feedback from my initial reader (Karen) I do some research. The second draft is when I put a polish on the work before sending it out to Beta Readers and/or Editors. This is when I go through and facts check my bullshit against the real world.
Remember Kids …
ALL ROUGH DRAFTS SUCK!!!
Last Bits
• Font – Century Gothic
• Size – 12 point
• Programs – Microsoft Word and Scrivener
Alright folks that’s it for today. I doubt you will find much of it interesting or useful. But I wanted to give everyone a look behind the curtain and see the bedrock of my writing process.
Till next time kids have some fun and write something.
- Josh
My Writing Space
For me where I write is nearly as important as what I write. When I wrote my very first book, Dead Reign, I was working at Toys R Us. I was on good terms with the store manager and he had no problem allowing me to use the crappy conference room as my writing space. I wrote two novellas, one full book, and my contribution to a group written book either in the conference room or the break room of the two Toys R Us stores I worked at.
After I left Toys R Us I went to work at my current day job at the retirement community. At first I was uncertain if I would be able to write anything there. But once again I found an unnamed space where I was able to create and it was there where I penned the entire Shores of the Dead Series and every other piece of work I have produced since.
But Josh, what about writing at your house?
For me it doesn’t work, or at least it is extremely difficult for me to write in my home. I do not have a dedicated office and with three kids still living at home it is nearly impossible for me to find the time or solitude I need to write. I have managed to turn out some work while at home but it has always been difficult and not very fun.
Writing should always be fun.
My Writing Environment
I get picky when it comes to writing. There are certain things I seem to need in order to create at an acceptable level. This a simple list of things I try to make happen or have available when writing.
• Temperature – I need a cool environment when writing. I always make sure the air conditioner is set as cold as possible. I also always bring a portable fan with me. The combination of extra cooling and breeze in my face helps me relax and concentrate
• Noises – I find it hard to write in complete silence. Sometimes I like to have music in the background while I write and sometimes I just want the white noise of the AC and the fan. More and more I put on a podcast very low in the background, the sounds of people having a quiet conversation that I am able to drown out and ignore has yielded some productive sessions. The one thing I do not want on is the television. TV shows and Movies draw me out of writing at the best and actually leach into my tales at worst
• Linear/Nonlinear – I am unable to write anything from beginning to end. I have to jump around and write in bits and pieces. The perfect example it the Shores of the Dead. I had the very last chapter of book 3 roughed out on the page before I was half way done with book 1. I work in isolated scenes that I proceed to knit together with bridging segments later on. I rarely work with outlines and that all leads to a kind of chaotic style of writing that works for mw but which I do not recommend for anyone else.
• Food & Drink – I like to eat and drink. Just look at a picture of me and you will know that to be an absolute truth. The sun is hot, water is wet, and Josh likes to eat and drink. When I am writing ice water and nuts are my primary fodder. Sometimes I will throw iced tea into the mix.
• Implements – When I was a teenager and young adult I was a long hand writer. Allow me to put this in perspective. I hated type writers and outside of school computers were to fucking expensive and unavailable. When I was in 8th grade I wrote my first really competent story, a mashup rip off of Star Trek 2 and The Abyss on my grandmother’s computer. An Ancient Tandy. These days I work solely on my lap top and consider myself very spoiled. I have an entire trunk of legal pads (my old school paper of choice) filled with short stories and busted novels too painfully bad to look at.
Outside Input
When I am writing a first draft I want absolutely zero input from others. I don’t want to tell you what my book is about and I don’t want to hear your ideas. So for the love of all of the gods that have never been please leave me alone! It’s not that I do not appreciate interest from friends and family but I don’t want it when I am trying to cut my work out of the creative granite.
Research
This may piss some people off and I know it does irritate many but I do no research during the first draft stage. When I have completed the first draft and received feedback from my initial reader (Karen) I do some research. The second draft is when I put a polish on the work before sending it out to Beta Readers and/or Editors. This is when I go through and facts check my bullshit against the real world.
Remember Kids …
ALL ROUGH DRAFTS SUCK!!!
Last Bits
• Font – Century Gothic
• Size – 12 point
• Programs – Microsoft Word and Scrivener
Alright folks that’s it for today. I doubt you will find much of it interesting or useful. But I wanted to give everyone a look behind the curtain and see the bedrock of my writing process.
Till next time kids have some fun and write something.
- Josh
July 15, 2013
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!
On Saturday July 12, 2013 Gorillas with Scissors Press (GWS Press) turned one year old. My seventh child has been through a lot in the last year and is stronger and more playful than ever. It has been a long and back braking road that we have traveled … but it has been more than worth it.
Everything can be traced to January of last year when I read (listened to) Kevin Smith’s book “Tough Shit” and my world changed. I was in a very low place when it came to my writing career. Not the same depths of self pity I had reached after my tenure with Palladium but still enough to have me doubting myself. After reading the book I knew that I needed to change my approach or I was never going to make it.
Now for a little back story.
Since leaving Palladium and deciding to turn down Freelance RPG work in favor of writing my trilogy of zombie books I had been playing the traditional game. I had spent the entire year of 2011 researching and submitting over 100 query letters to agents and publishers. I played the game, I chased my tail, and I got jack shit for my efforts. It might have been different if I received lettered back that at least said they looked at what I sent them.
Out of 117 letters (just counted) one person looked at my sample and responded.
ONE
To be fair this agent was very encouraging. She said that she was swamped and didn’t think she could devote enough attention to me but that it was a good story and that with the help of a pro editor it could be fantastic.
I still thank her for that response.
In the end I decided to go it alone. I have been in the publishing business since 2007 and have gleaned more than a few tricks. I did my diligence and researched Indie/Selfie publishing and on July 12, 2012 the monkey with shears was loosed on the world. He has been a wild beast but taking care of him, nurturing him, and watching him grow has been amazing.
As of this writing I have published 42 novels, novellas, short stories, serials, and essays through my own publishing company. It feels amazing to be the man handling the ball, scary but amazing. Sales have been good and a respectable chunk of change has been funneled my way and I thank every single person who has been good enough to PAY to read my stuff and give me awesome feedback!
You people are the best.
But Josh what is coming next?
First and foremost I want to turn out product. I am working on getting a more editorial support group via Beta Readers and paid editors. I want to put together a street team to help promote the work in the real world. I am also going to be concentrating on serials this year. There are three different serials (Summer Camp of the Dead, The Preserve, and Welcome to Westlake) that are being plowed through behind the scenes.
What’s the biggish news?
I have signed a new writer, a friend of mine in the real world, to open up the Adult Division of GWS Press which I will be calling “Sexy Monkey Publishing”. The first of his stuff will be being rereleased through us in the next few weeks. His name is CT Phillips (pen name) and he can currently be contacted/scoped out at his website (www.ctphillipsauthor.com). Be warned this is not romance he is a porn writer and hey, there is money in porn!
Okay my minions, that is all I have right now!
- Josh
Everything can be traced to January of last year when I read (listened to) Kevin Smith’s book “Tough Shit” and my world changed. I was in a very low place when it came to my writing career. Not the same depths of self pity I had reached after my tenure with Palladium but still enough to have me doubting myself. After reading the book I knew that I needed to change my approach or I was never going to make it.
Now for a little back story.
Since leaving Palladium and deciding to turn down Freelance RPG work in favor of writing my trilogy of zombie books I had been playing the traditional game. I had spent the entire year of 2011 researching and submitting over 100 query letters to agents and publishers. I played the game, I chased my tail, and I got jack shit for my efforts. It might have been different if I received lettered back that at least said they looked at what I sent them.
Out of 117 letters (just counted) one person looked at my sample and responded.
ONE
To be fair this agent was very encouraging. She said that she was swamped and didn’t think she could devote enough attention to me but that it was a good story and that with the help of a pro editor it could be fantastic.
I still thank her for that response.
In the end I decided to go it alone. I have been in the publishing business since 2007 and have gleaned more than a few tricks. I did my diligence and researched Indie/Selfie publishing and on July 12, 2012 the monkey with shears was loosed on the world. He has been a wild beast but taking care of him, nurturing him, and watching him grow has been amazing.
As of this writing I have published 42 novels, novellas, short stories, serials, and essays through my own publishing company. It feels amazing to be the man handling the ball, scary but amazing. Sales have been good and a respectable chunk of change has been funneled my way and I thank every single person who has been good enough to PAY to read my stuff and give me awesome feedback!
You people are the best.
But Josh what is coming next?
First and foremost I want to turn out product. I am working on getting a more editorial support group via Beta Readers and paid editors. I want to put together a street team to help promote the work in the real world. I am also going to be concentrating on serials this year. There are three different serials (Summer Camp of the Dead, The Preserve, and Welcome to Westlake) that are being plowed through behind the scenes.
What’s the biggish news?
I have signed a new writer, a friend of mine in the real world, to open up the Adult Division of GWS Press which I will be calling “Sexy Monkey Publishing”. The first of his stuff will be being rereleased through us in the next few weeks. His name is CT Phillips (pen name) and he can currently be contacted/scoped out at his website (www.ctphillipsauthor.com). Be warned this is not romance he is a porn writer and hey, there is money in porn!
Okay my minions, that is all I have right now!
- Josh
July 12, 2013
Advice to New Writers Part 5: “And, But, Had, the Horrible Comma, the Majestic Ellipsis, and Wrangling the Second … and Third Drafts”
I need to make a disclaimer before continuing this installment. I was reading through the first four installments of this series yesterday and made a shocking realization. I have not settled on what out fictional work is. So let me state for the record that all of this advice is posited on the assumption that you are writing a piece of long fiction (novella or novel).
Okay, moving on.
At this point in the process you have finished your rough draft and followed my rules about how to treat your initial reader. They have read the work cover to cover and are ready to give you their feedback. First off do not expect them to give you feedback on grammar and punctuation. Although it is excellent when your first reader is capable of this task it is really more appropriate to get those notes from Beta Readers and/or editors.
Sit down with your reader and talk about the book. For me my initial reader is always my fantastic wife Karen. She is straight forward, a good judge of what does and does not work in a story, and she knows how to tell me I am wrong without triggering my defenses and throwing me into fight mode.
Always an important thing.
We have a drink, maybe some food, and we break down the story. She tells me what she likes, what she doesn’t like, and what she would have preferred to have happened. It is a longish process and can take a couple of days.
Do I take all of her advice and suggestions?
Hell no! But I hear them all and consider each carefully before I either incorporate them or pitch them into the discard pile. Remember you are the writer and even if it sounds conceited and a bit trite you need to remain true to your story and your voice. If what you want to do is simply write what people, even people you love and respect, tell then maybe you should consider moving to Hollywood and writing commercial scripts. I am not going to beat you over the head with this but I really need you to understand something.
“If someone tells you they don’t like something you write it does not mean it is bad or wrong. All it means is they didn’t like it and that is okay!”
Consider all real suggestions from people who read your work and realize that sometimes people have better ideas and more skills than you. But never assume that that some is right and you are wrong just because they are loud and forceful.
Okay, enough of that. Let us get back to your work.
You have the notes from your initial reader and you also have the inevitable head full of ideas and changes you have assembled on your own. You have returned to your comfortable chair. You are sitting in your favorite writing area. And you have a tasty beverage next to you computer.
Be careful not to spill it.
It is now the time to do the rewrites.
I will state right up front that when I was a new writer I hated the rewriting process. To me it was like a Nazi Sniper trying to destroy my work. I mean hey, I am the writer and everything I write is just this side of perfection. There is surely no need to rewrite the work. All I need to do is proof it and send it to an editor or to beta readers who will put that final polish on it. Let us restate something from last installment.
ALL ROUGH DRAFTS SUCK!
The first time I forced myself to do a serious rewrite, and man I fucking mean I FORCED myself like a prison bitch, was after Palladium. I was working Freelance for Third Eye Games and I had received the “Blue Copy” from my editor (we will discuss dealing with editors and the Blue Copy later). I was happy that he liked what I had written in the first draft but was downtrodden at the idea of going back over the 25,000 words line by line and making fixes.
I forced myself to do it.
You know what I realized when I had finished the rewriting process? I actually kind of enjoyed it. I think it’s what a jeweler feels as he/she cuts and polishes a precious stone. It felt almost as good as finishing the work in the first place.
It was as good as the best sex.
Approach the second draft, and third if needed, like starting the book over. If something reads off to you during the process then it probably needs to go or be reworked. It has to read right to you and it is hard for one writer to tell another how to rewrite. Well it’s not hard but most writers who do it are really pretentious douche bags in my not so humble opinion. That being said I will be a minor douche bag and give you a list of things I keep in mind when rewriting.
• Omit Needless Words. Stephen King hammers this on in his book “On Writing” and free admits he learned it from “The Elements of Style” If you want to be a writer I suggest you read these books, they are tow of the best books about writing I have ever read
• Cut the words HAD, AND, and BUT as much as possible. Many writers use these words way too much. I am one of the worst offenders I know of this sin. Kill them as much as possible in your manuscript and for the love of whatever god you believe in start as few sentences with these words as possible
• The Coma and the Ellipsis are NOT your friends. I have a tendency to abuse these humble pieces of punctuation like a horrible 18th century slaver. Are they needed? Yes! Can they be overused and make you work read like the work of an epileptic serial killer? Hell yes! Kill them when you can, they are like hot peppers and should be used sparingly
• The Fragment and Run-On Sentence are Crack! Both the fragment sentence and the run-on sentence happen there is no stopping it. Sometimes they add punch to the narrative but more often they speak to sloppy writing, and yes my work is stiff with both. Kill as many of them as you can in the rewrite
• Beware of Continuity. As you are rewriting make sure all of your people, places, and times are consistent throughout the tale. Few things will throw a reader out of a story like a fucked up location or character name
• HAVE FUN! Seriously you are an artist and this is your craft, fucking enjoy it and don’t take it so gods damned seriously!
Now you have finished your rewrites and self edits and you are faced with a choice. Do you find an Independent Editor to go through your book or do you employ Beta Readers?
Some of you may be screaming, “No Josh you shop it to agents and publishers next!”
WRONG WRONG WRONG!
Okay maybe you could be right if you want to go about things traditionally. I am an Indie Writer and I doubt I will ever be anything else, I may one day be a hybrid writer but part of me will always be Indie as fuck!
So next time we talk editors/beta readers! Now go write something and have some fucking fun.
- Josh
Okay, moving on.
At this point in the process you have finished your rough draft and followed my rules about how to treat your initial reader. They have read the work cover to cover and are ready to give you their feedback. First off do not expect them to give you feedback on grammar and punctuation. Although it is excellent when your first reader is capable of this task it is really more appropriate to get those notes from Beta Readers and/or editors.
Sit down with your reader and talk about the book. For me my initial reader is always my fantastic wife Karen. She is straight forward, a good judge of what does and does not work in a story, and she knows how to tell me I am wrong without triggering my defenses and throwing me into fight mode.
Always an important thing.
We have a drink, maybe some food, and we break down the story. She tells me what she likes, what she doesn’t like, and what she would have preferred to have happened. It is a longish process and can take a couple of days.
Do I take all of her advice and suggestions?
Hell no! But I hear them all and consider each carefully before I either incorporate them or pitch them into the discard pile. Remember you are the writer and even if it sounds conceited and a bit trite you need to remain true to your story and your voice. If what you want to do is simply write what people, even people you love and respect, tell then maybe you should consider moving to Hollywood and writing commercial scripts. I am not going to beat you over the head with this but I really need you to understand something.
“If someone tells you they don’t like something you write it does not mean it is bad or wrong. All it means is they didn’t like it and that is okay!”
Consider all real suggestions from people who read your work and realize that sometimes people have better ideas and more skills than you. But never assume that that some is right and you are wrong just because they are loud and forceful.
Okay, enough of that. Let us get back to your work.
You have the notes from your initial reader and you also have the inevitable head full of ideas and changes you have assembled on your own. You have returned to your comfortable chair. You are sitting in your favorite writing area. And you have a tasty beverage next to you computer.
Be careful not to spill it.
It is now the time to do the rewrites.
I will state right up front that when I was a new writer I hated the rewriting process. To me it was like a Nazi Sniper trying to destroy my work. I mean hey, I am the writer and everything I write is just this side of perfection. There is surely no need to rewrite the work. All I need to do is proof it and send it to an editor or to beta readers who will put that final polish on it. Let us restate something from last installment.
ALL ROUGH DRAFTS SUCK!
The first time I forced myself to do a serious rewrite, and man I fucking mean I FORCED myself like a prison bitch, was after Palladium. I was working Freelance for Third Eye Games and I had received the “Blue Copy” from my editor (we will discuss dealing with editors and the Blue Copy later). I was happy that he liked what I had written in the first draft but was downtrodden at the idea of going back over the 25,000 words line by line and making fixes.
I forced myself to do it.
You know what I realized when I had finished the rewriting process? I actually kind of enjoyed it. I think it’s what a jeweler feels as he/she cuts and polishes a precious stone. It felt almost as good as finishing the work in the first place.
It was as good as the best sex.
Approach the second draft, and third if needed, like starting the book over. If something reads off to you during the process then it probably needs to go or be reworked. It has to read right to you and it is hard for one writer to tell another how to rewrite. Well it’s not hard but most writers who do it are really pretentious douche bags in my not so humble opinion. That being said I will be a minor douche bag and give you a list of things I keep in mind when rewriting.
• Omit Needless Words. Stephen King hammers this on in his book “On Writing” and free admits he learned it from “The Elements of Style” If you want to be a writer I suggest you read these books, they are tow of the best books about writing I have ever read
• Cut the words HAD, AND, and BUT as much as possible. Many writers use these words way too much. I am one of the worst offenders I know of this sin. Kill them as much as possible in your manuscript and for the love of whatever god you believe in start as few sentences with these words as possible
• The Coma and the Ellipsis are NOT your friends. I have a tendency to abuse these humble pieces of punctuation like a horrible 18th century slaver. Are they needed? Yes! Can they be overused and make you work read like the work of an epileptic serial killer? Hell yes! Kill them when you can, they are like hot peppers and should be used sparingly
• The Fragment and Run-On Sentence are Crack! Both the fragment sentence and the run-on sentence happen there is no stopping it. Sometimes they add punch to the narrative but more often they speak to sloppy writing, and yes my work is stiff with both. Kill as many of them as you can in the rewrite
• Beware of Continuity. As you are rewriting make sure all of your people, places, and times are consistent throughout the tale. Few things will throw a reader out of a story like a fucked up location or character name
• HAVE FUN! Seriously you are an artist and this is your craft, fucking enjoy it and don’t take it so gods damned seriously!
Now you have finished your rewrites and self edits and you are faced with a choice. Do you find an Independent Editor to go through your book or do you employ Beta Readers?
Some of you may be screaming, “No Josh you shop it to agents and publishers next!”
WRONG WRONG WRONG!
Okay maybe you could be right if you want to go about things traditionally. I am an Indie Writer and I doubt I will ever be anything else, I may one day be a hybrid writer but part of me will always be Indie as fuck!
So next time we talk editors/beta readers! Now go write something and have some fucking fun.
- Josh
July 9, 2013
Advice to New Writers Part 4: “Stick It Out There & See What Happens”
Alright kiddos it’s that time of the week again. It’s time for you to take or ignore advice from a blowhard who is really just making it all up as he goes along.
Doesn’t that sound swell?
By this point you have found your idea, hunted and caged the bitch, nurtured and fed it, then committed it all to the page in a brilliant first draft. If you haven’t done all or any of this then just pretend that you have … or go do that and THEN read this. Now you are staring at your brand new first draft of your story. I bet you are feeling pretty damn good about yourself right about now? Well you should. I suggest that you go out, enjoy the company of a person of your choice, have a few drinks, and get wickedly laid in celebration.
Then come back to your story.
I am afraid you have to show it to somebody at this point. I know that is a scary idea and right now you are backing away from the screen muttering something about “Crazy fat guys” not knowing what the hell they are talking about.
Just chill, take a breath, and relax.
This won’t hurt much.
Let me state this right here and now before we go any further. If you can’t handle criticism then you might wish to consider another calling, maybe push a broom or work in a bottling plant. An artist of any stripe, just accept that writers are artists, need to develop a thick skin to act as armor. Feedback is a necessary evil if you are looking to make money as a writer. If all you want to do is “Create” then by all means ignore feedback and give your work away. But if you want to be a pro learn to hear criticism and feedback from your readers.
Be careful which bits of criticism you LISTEN too.
You need to realize that some people can’t help being twats who have nothing better to do with their time than spew vitriolic bile at people they are most likely jealous of and/or intimidated by. In my experience most CRITICS are assholes. I am not talking about fair and balanced reviewers who give honest feedback. I am talking about those people who have no greater joy in their lives than making people feel like shit. These are the Trolls and Bully’s of the literary world and you should never give them a foothold in your life.
Let me give you an example.
When I was first breaking into the writing industry many moons ago when the Great Turtle and the Mother Bear still held sway I had a horrific experience. I was hired to write for a Roleplaying Game company back in 2007. This unnamed company was one of the biggest touchstones from my childhood and the owner was my own personal hero and I thought true friend. I gave this company the idea for a game and worked on it for 8 months. I busted my balls on this and turned in a first draft I was very proud of.
Let me reiterate that, a FIRST DRAFT.
The publisher, my “Friend” held the manuscript for another 8 months and told me the entire time that it looked great. Then one day he calls me and tells me he just started looking at it 2 hours earlier and that paying me for it would be like “Bending over and letting me fuck him up the ass”. Then he stole my book.
I will take my share of the blame in this. I never fought for my intellectual property and knuckled under. He paid me a bullshit fee changed enough details to call it his own while keeping my core idea. And I have heard through channels that he had made a small mint from it.
Never show your rough product to anyone you don’t trust implicitly. Also don’t trust a publisher/editor who does not believe in the rewrite process (we will address this later).
Live and learn.
I tell you this because I need you to know that there are less than great people out there who will take your ideas without blinking. But we are not to the point where you need to worry about any of this.
Share your work … with someone you love.
When I say love I mean someone who loves you enough NOT to lie to you in order to spare your feelings. If you give it to someone who is just going to tell you that it’s great or tell you that there are a few minor things wrong with it then you are wasting your time. This brings me to one of my first axioms of writing.
ALL ROUGH DRAFTS SUCK
Sorry but it’s true. There may be some great ideas and some magnificent scenes in your first draft but all of the crap that needs to be cut away will make it suck hard. I am sure if we got our hands on the first draft of any book we love it would suck compared to the published product. So be sure to give it to a person you trust to shoot straight.
My first reader is always my wife. I trust Karen to read what I have written and be able to tell me whether she likes the story or not and be able to point out the mistakes. Karen has little problem telling me that sections of my stories just don’t work or read bad. I have never regretted taking Karen’s edits and more than once I have had to go back and take the ones I originally ignored.
I have three pieces of advice for you when giving your rough draft to your initial reader.
1. Do not give your reader a synopsis before they read
2. Do not interrupt them while they are reading
3. When you are receiving their feedback keep your trap shut until they are done
That’s it, very simple.
After you have hashed things out with your initial reader then it is time to go back and do your second draft. In Part 5 we will discuss how I go about this second draft and why I hate the word “But” with every fiber of my being.
That’s it, go do something fun!
Doesn’t that sound swell?
By this point you have found your idea, hunted and caged the bitch, nurtured and fed it, then committed it all to the page in a brilliant first draft. If you haven’t done all or any of this then just pretend that you have … or go do that and THEN read this. Now you are staring at your brand new first draft of your story. I bet you are feeling pretty damn good about yourself right about now? Well you should. I suggest that you go out, enjoy the company of a person of your choice, have a few drinks, and get wickedly laid in celebration.
Then come back to your story.
I am afraid you have to show it to somebody at this point. I know that is a scary idea and right now you are backing away from the screen muttering something about “Crazy fat guys” not knowing what the hell they are talking about.
Just chill, take a breath, and relax.
This won’t hurt much.
Let me state this right here and now before we go any further. If you can’t handle criticism then you might wish to consider another calling, maybe push a broom or work in a bottling plant. An artist of any stripe, just accept that writers are artists, need to develop a thick skin to act as armor. Feedback is a necessary evil if you are looking to make money as a writer. If all you want to do is “Create” then by all means ignore feedback and give your work away. But if you want to be a pro learn to hear criticism and feedback from your readers.
Be careful which bits of criticism you LISTEN too.
You need to realize that some people can’t help being twats who have nothing better to do with their time than spew vitriolic bile at people they are most likely jealous of and/or intimidated by. In my experience most CRITICS are assholes. I am not talking about fair and balanced reviewers who give honest feedback. I am talking about those people who have no greater joy in their lives than making people feel like shit. These are the Trolls and Bully’s of the literary world and you should never give them a foothold in your life.
Let me give you an example.
When I was first breaking into the writing industry many moons ago when the Great Turtle and the Mother Bear still held sway I had a horrific experience. I was hired to write for a Roleplaying Game company back in 2007. This unnamed company was one of the biggest touchstones from my childhood and the owner was my own personal hero and I thought true friend. I gave this company the idea for a game and worked on it for 8 months. I busted my balls on this and turned in a first draft I was very proud of.
Let me reiterate that, a FIRST DRAFT.
The publisher, my “Friend” held the manuscript for another 8 months and told me the entire time that it looked great. Then one day he calls me and tells me he just started looking at it 2 hours earlier and that paying me for it would be like “Bending over and letting me fuck him up the ass”. Then he stole my book.
I will take my share of the blame in this. I never fought for my intellectual property and knuckled under. He paid me a bullshit fee changed enough details to call it his own while keeping my core idea. And I have heard through channels that he had made a small mint from it.
Never show your rough product to anyone you don’t trust implicitly. Also don’t trust a publisher/editor who does not believe in the rewrite process (we will address this later).
Live and learn.
I tell you this because I need you to know that there are less than great people out there who will take your ideas without blinking. But we are not to the point where you need to worry about any of this.
Share your work … with someone you love.
When I say love I mean someone who loves you enough NOT to lie to you in order to spare your feelings. If you give it to someone who is just going to tell you that it’s great or tell you that there are a few minor things wrong with it then you are wasting your time. This brings me to one of my first axioms of writing.
ALL ROUGH DRAFTS SUCK
Sorry but it’s true. There may be some great ideas and some magnificent scenes in your first draft but all of the crap that needs to be cut away will make it suck hard. I am sure if we got our hands on the first draft of any book we love it would suck compared to the published product. So be sure to give it to a person you trust to shoot straight.
My first reader is always my wife. I trust Karen to read what I have written and be able to tell me whether she likes the story or not and be able to point out the mistakes. Karen has little problem telling me that sections of my stories just don’t work or read bad. I have never regretted taking Karen’s edits and more than once I have had to go back and take the ones I originally ignored.
I have three pieces of advice for you when giving your rough draft to your initial reader.
1. Do not give your reader a synopsis before they read
2. Do not interrupt them while they are reading
3. When you are receiving their feedback keep your trap shut until they are done
That’s it, very simple.
After you have hashed things out with your initial reader then it is time to go back and do your second draft. In Part 5 we will discuss how I go about this second draft and why I hate the word “But” with every fiber of my being.
That’s it, go do something fun!
July 6, 2013
Indie vs. Selfie!
I posted the genesis of this essay last night as a Facebook status update. I thought that was enough for me to feel better and get the anger and frustration out of my system.
I was wrong.
With that being the case allow me to start from the beginning.
“Hi, my name is Josh Hilden and I am a Self Published Author. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.”
I have been seeing and in some cases experiencing, a lot of derision toward those of us in the “Selfie” community these days from other writers. The vast majority of this vitriol seems to be from writers who are not associated with one of the “Big 6” but writers who are associated with a tiny Indie Press.
Let me this state up front, there is nothing wrong with being published by a small indie press. As the owner of a Micro-Press myself I wholeheartedly support the fracturing of the “Traditional” publishing model.
These writers seem to believe that since another writer who happened to have the drive to open his/her own press likes their work they are better than us. I wish I could say this is hyperbole but let me as you the following questions. How many times have one or more of these thing happened to you.
• Another writer tells you, “Good for you, you published your own book” or some variation?
• Whenever another writer mentions your work they feel the need to mention you are “Self Published”.
• You attempt to join a writers group and are met with the reply “No self published authors allowed”.
That is the kind of crap that makes me want to gather an army of chimps and attack the local Barnes & Noble!
The publishing world has changed as surely as the music and movie industries have changed. Digital media, Amazon and other outlets, and the democratization of the internet have rendered the traditional publishing system anachronistic. ANYBODY can publish ANYTHING that they wish. The trick is getting people to buy your work. From my experiences and the experiences of other authors in the Selfie community people want to buy our work just as much as the work from authors published by a third party.
The change isn’t happening, it has already happened.
But what really chaps my ass is the Indie Publishers use the same tools as the Selfies. Yet the authors published by the Indies are legitimate writers but we are not?
We work just as hard if not harder than Indie published writers. We have to pay our own way, we have to do all of our own leg work, we have to do all of our own heavy lifting, and we have to do it all in the vacuum of the Selfie world. At least in the Indie world you have the moral support offered by the other writers, editors, and publishers at your press.
We have, “My mom says I’m cool” to keep us going.
Our work is just as good as any of theirs. I would put Selfie work against Indie work any day of the fucking week.
Alright, that’s it. I have spent enough of my day bitching and moaning when I could be writing.
- Josh
I was wrong.
With that being the case allow me to start from the beginning.
“Hi, my name is Josh Hilden and I am a Self Published Author. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.”
I have been seeing and in some cases experiencing, a lot of derision toward those of us in the “Selfie” community these days from other writers. The vast majority of this vitriol seems to be from writers who are not associated with one of the “Big 6” but writers who are associated with a tiny Indie Press.
Let me this state up front, there is nothing wrong with being published by a small indie press. As the owner of a Micro-Press myself I wholeheartedly support the fracturing of the “Traditional” publishing model.
These writers seem to believe that since another writer who happened to have the drive to open his/her own press likes their work they are better than us. I wish I could say this is hyperbole but let me as you the following questions. How many times have one or more of these thing happened to you.
• Another writer tells you, “Good for you, you published your own book” or some variation?
• Whenever another writer mentions your work they feel the need to mention you are “Self Published”.
• You attempt to join a writers group and are met with the reply “No self published authors allowed”.
That is the kind of crap that makes me want to gather an army of chimps and attack the local Barnes & Noble!
The publishing world has changed as surely as the music and movie industries have changed. Digital media, Amazon and other outlets, and the democratization of the internet have rendered the traditional publishing system anachronistic. ANYBODY can publish ANYTHING that they wish. The trick is getting people to buy your work. From my experiences and the experiences of other authors in the Selfie community people want to buy our work just as much as the work from authors published by a third party.
The change isn’t happening, it has already happened.
But what really chaps my ass is the Indie Publishers use the same tools as the Selfies. Yet the authors published by the Indies are legitimate writers but we are not?
We work just as hard if not harder than Indie published writers. We have to pay our own way, we have to do all of our own leg work, we have to do all of our own heavy lifting, and we have to do it all in the vacuum of the Selfie world. At least in the Indie world you have the moral support offered by the other writers, editors, and publishers at your press.
We have, “My mom says I’m cool” to keep us going.
Our work is just as good as any of theirs. I would put Selfie work against Indie work any day of the fucking week.
Alright, that’s it. I have spent enough of my day bitching and moaning when I could be writing.
- Josh
July 1, 2013
Advice to New Writers #3: Putting some Flesh on the Bones (Part 2 – Take it for a Walk)
So where are we?
Have you found the idea, hunted it down, and then trapped it in some sort of high tech containment facility?
Check.
Have you allowed the idea to grow and develop a structure and some nice squishy fat over hard lean muscle?
Check.
Have you released the locks to the containment facility and taken the creature for a walk around the block?
No?
Well then now I know where we need to go. When the idea has reached its maximum size it is time to let it out and play with it. And when I say play with it I am not speaking of the “who-ha”, what I mean is that now you need to bust out the rough draft.
A lot of writers will tell you that you make your first edits after you finish the rough draft. That is a valid point of view because when you are writing the rough draft you are actually making physical cuts from the story. But I would suggest, and I do, that you are making mental edits from the second that you begin tapping the keys on your computer or when you put pen/pencil to paper.
Let’s go back to the idea as living creature idea.
When you open that cage and let the idea out it is at its fattest. The little guy is more blubber than muscle and that is a good thing, it gives you a broader canvass to work with. But unless you want the little guy to suffocate under its own sometimes considerable weight you need to start burning off mass immediately.
Translation
When you begin to write the rough draft you immediately begin to discard ides and threads from the story that have no real place in your narrative. Every writer does it whether they intend to or not. The purpose of the rough draft is to get as much of the idea transcribed and set into the framework that you have built for it. But not every part of the initial idea belongs in the rough draft.
That is not to say that once you cut the fat from the initial idea that it is dead and gone. I have hundreds, maybe thousands, of tidbits that have been culled from the initial ideas of other stories.
Let me give you an example from my own work.
When I first conceived the Shores of the Dead Series I envisioned Dawn of the Dead meets The Call of Cthulhu. In the end it has been described more as The Walking Dead meets The Stand and to be honest I am not complaining about that comparison in the least. Even as I was committing the initial idea to the page many of the Cthulhu and Dawn elements were falling by the wayside while other parts of the tale gained greater prominence and strength.
I know what you might want to scream at me right about now.
“This is all pretty much basic stuff Josh!”
I get that, but sometimes it’s the simple and obvious stuff that needs to be said. People assume that just because it seems obvious that everyone else already knows it and that it never needs to be said. Some of this is stuff I wish other writers had said to me when I started in the business.
In the end though your rough draft should be shot through with fat, it should be loaded like the tastiest piece of Kobe beef you’ve ever seen. Regardless of mental editing you need to try and get every bit of that idea through the initial filter in your mind and onto the page. It is the basis for everything that will come next.
You can grow it on the page.
You can cut it down with ruthless abandon.
But in the end your original idea and the rough draft that is born from it is the bedrock your work will be built on. It is the platform that it will stand on when you finally allow another human being to read it. If the foundation is shaky or incomplete it will all eventually come crashing down on you … or you will just have a shit story.
Either way, not a good position to find yourself in.
Well kids that was the easy part. You have the idea laid out in front of you, committed to the page. Now comes the hard part, the scary part, and the part that has been known to drive writers to the edge of insanity … and then right into the abyss below.
Now you have to show the rough draft to someone.
That is where we will pick this up next time. We will talk about if you SHOULD show your rough draft to others. And we will discuss how to handle the feedback if you do decide to share your newborn tale.
Alright my Minions, until next time have fun and keep writing!
- Josh
Have you found the idea, hunted it down, and then trapped it in some sort of high tech containment facility?
Check.
Have you allowed the idea to grow and develop a structure and some nice squishy fat over hard lean muscle?
Check.
Have you released the locks to the containment facility and taken the creature for a walk around the block?
No?
Well then now I know where we need to go. When the idea has reached its maximum size it is time to let it out and play with it. And when I say play with it I am not speaking of the “who-ha”, what I mean is that now you need to bust out the rough draft.
A lot of writers will tell you that you make your first edits after you finish the rough draft. That is a valid point of view because when you are writing the rough draft you are actually making physical cuts from the story. But I would suggest, and I do, that you are making mental edits from the second that you begin tapping the keys on your computer or when you put pen/pencil to paper.
Let’s go back to the idea as living creature idea.
When you open that cage and let the idea out it is at its fattest. The little guy is more blubber than muscle and that is a good thing, it gives you a broader canvass to work with. But unless you want the little guy to suffocate under its own sometimes considerable weight you need to start burning off mass immediately.
Translation
When you begin to write the rough draft you immediately begin to discard ides and threads from the story that have no real place in your narrative. Every writer does it whether they intend to or not. The purpose of the rough draft is to get as much of the idea transcribed and set into the framework that you have built for it. But not every part of the initial idea belongs in the rough draft.
That is not to say that once you cut the fat from the initial idea that it is dead and gone. I have hundreds, maybe thousands, of tidbits that have been culled from the initial ideas of other stories.
Let me give you an example from my own work.
When I first conceived the Shores of the Dead Series I envisioned Dawn of the Dead meets The Call of Cthulhu. In the end it has been described more as The Walking Dead meets The Stand and to be honest I am not complaining about that comparison in the least. Even as I was committing the initial idea to the page many of the Cthulhu and Dawn elements were falling by the wayside while other parts of the tale gained greater prominence and strength.
I know what you might want to scream at me right about now.
“This is all pretty much basic stuff Josh!”
I get that, but sometimes it’s the simple and obvious stuff that needs to be said. People assume that just because it seems obvious that everyone else already knows it and that it never needs to be said. Some of this is stuff I wish other writers had said to me when I started in the business.
In the end though your rough draft should be shot through with fat, it should be loaded like the tastiest piece of Kobe beef you’ve ever seen. Regardless of mental editing you need to try and get every bit of that idea through the initial filter in your mind and onto the page. It is the basis for everything that will come next.
You can grow it on the page.
You can cut it down with ruthless abandon.
But in the end your original idea and the rough draft that is born from it is the bedrock your work will be built on. It is the platform that it will stand on when you finally allow another human being to read it. If the foundation is shaky or incomplete it will all eventually come crashing down on you … or you will just have a shit story.
Either way, not a good position to find yourself in.
Well kids that was the easy part. You have the idea laid out in front of you, committed to the page. Now comes the hard part, the scary part, and the part that has been known to drive writers to the edge of insanity … and then right into the abyss below.
Now you have to show the rough draft to someone.
That is where we will pick this up next time. We will talk about if you SHOULD show your rough draft to others. And we will discuss how to handle the feedback if you do decide to share your newborn tale.
Alright my Minions, until next time have fun and keep writing!
- Josh
