Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 33

imposter syndrome?

Surabhi writes in to ask:

“Have you, as a very prolific writer, ever faced imposter’s syndrome or self-doubt? Do you still do? And what helps you overcome those doubts? I think self-doubt is something most writers go through.”

Well…to be totally honest, not really. Imposter syndrome has not been one of my personal challenges. Whatever my personal Struggle Bus might have been in life, let’s just say imposter syndrome was not among the passengers.

I did almost quit writing at the end of 2010, but not out of imposter syndrome – I was just utterly disgusted with traditional publishing and traditional SF/F publishing in particular (an emotion that has not substantially changed in the fourteen years since). My frustration wasn’t one of imposter syndrome – I had written ten novels at that point and knew I could do it – but that it was nearly impossible to break into traditional publishing and that even if you did you wouldn’t make much money.

So I decided that I was wasting my time and I needed to pursue more profitable enterprises. But right around that time I discovered self-publishing, and things took off from there.

But I can pinpoint the exact moment I lost any trace of imposter syndrome when it comes to writing. It was in early 2012, when I got a stern letter from the IRS informing me (to paraphrase a bit) that I needed to be paying much more on my self-publishing writing income. It was my fault – at the time, I was new to the idea of quarterly tax payments and didn’t fully understand how they worked, and I had messed one up.

So I sent in the payment with the associated penalty, and that was that.

But the IRS, if you are not familiar with it, is the American federal tax collection agency, and it famously has no sense of humor whatsoever and is also very fond of accuracy. So if the IRS was of the opinion that I was a good enough writer that I needed to be paying more on my writing income, I sure wasn’t going to argue with them.

I can just imagine how that would play out for a writer who does have imposter syndrome.

Writer: I don’t feel like a real writer.

IRS: Our records indicate otherwise. You will need your checkbook now.

Writer: I feel so validated!

IRS: That…is not the usual reaction. 

(Side anecdote: I have to fill out the US Annual Integrated Economic Survey for small businesses from the Census Department every year, and “self-employed writer” seems to fall under the same category as “musician or taxidermist” in that survey.)

That semi-amusing anecdote aside and to return (at last!) to our original point, I have to admit imposter syndrome has never really been a problem for me. I don’t present myself as something other than what I am, freely admit when I don’t know something, and I only rarely speak (or write) without thoroughly thinking it through first. Thinking aloud is something I don’t really do. If I encounter something I don’t know how to do that I nonetheless have to do, my usual approach, for better or worse, is to make a good-faith approach to muddle through and hope for the best, which can have results ranging from very good to less than desirable, like that thing in 2012 with the quarterly tax payment I botched.

I am not a psychiatrist, but I suppose the only advice I would offer a writer with imposter syndrome is to never engage in self-denigration, whether aloud or as part of your internal monologue. Like, you shouldn’t puff yourself up falsely, but neither should you put yourself down inaccurately. Lying to yourself and others that you’re worse at something than you really are is just the same as pretending to be good at something you’re not.

It’s best to view all things as they are, without flattery or inaccurate denigration, even oneself.

But be kind to yourself. I’ve noticed people will sometimes say things about themselves that they would never in a million years say about someone else.

That said, whenever I had to fill out an employee self-evaluation, I always rated myself as excellent in every single category except for one, which only rated as Very Good. As I said, never engage in self-denigration, especially in a professional setting!

-JM

10,000 word day!

I am pleased to report that I wrote 10,000 words of SHIELD OF CONQUEST today, which puts me on Chapter 9 of 22!

I will have to double-check my records, but I think this is my 7th 10k word day of 2024. Since I think the rough draft of SHIELD OF CONQUEST will land around 100,000 words, today was a big leap forward in progress.

-JM

 

Should You Rewrite And Republish Your Book?

Reader AN writes in with an interesting question:

“A possible question to explore is whether it’s a good or worthwhile idea to revise and republish completed novels. Does doing this have merit artistically? Financially, it seems to be ill advised.  To me it makes sense from a ‘I want to perfect my magnum opus’ kind of way, but financially it probably does not for the effort involved. Is it possible to have worthwhile success by republishing and doing a heavy marketing push? I ask because an author that I enjoy republished two novels with extensive edits and include hundreds of pages of new fiction. Some plots were altered. Some characters were completely rewritten and new scenes were even added. I found that I immensely enjoyed the revisions and additions even though the first editions were already excellent. While I did buy the new editions, it was only because I happened to see a comment on the authors blog about the rewrites and I was curious. It was happenstance really. I would like to hear your thoughts on this if you have the interest and time.” ###I should start off my answer by saying this isn’t something I would do. When it comes to writing, my attitude is that of Pontius Pilate: “Quod scripsi, scripsi.” In English, what I have written, I have written.That said, I have changed minor things – typo corrections, maybe changing a sentence if readers consistently don’t understand it, that kind of thing. I did change the titles of the STEALTH & SPELLS series because I thought people were confusing them with the SEVENFOLD SWORD books. But I haven’t completely rewritten and republished a previously published novel in any substantial way.For myself, at least, I think it’s always better to keep moving forward. If I look back at nearly anything I’ve written, I always think I could have done this or that better. But that line of thought can be a psychological trap for writers, leading them to endlessly repolish old work instead of forging ahead with something new.That said, what works for me will not work for everyone. I have seen writers rewrite and republish old books.If that is something you want to do, I think you first have to ask yourself five questions1.) Is There Sufficient Demand?That is, will be people interested in reading a rewritten book, or would they much rather have the next book in the series? There are only 24 hours in the day, and that means there is only so much writing time. Would your time be better spent writing a new book instead of rewriting an old one?As reader AN said above, a passion project is one thing. But if it’s not a passion project and you spend a lot of time rewriting and republishing the book and no one buys it, then that’s time that could have been better spent elsewhere.2.) Will it annoy readers?It’s important to remember that a writer’s perception of his or her work often has no alignment whatsoever with what the readers think of that work.Like, you could look at one of your books, and think it is flawed and in need of serious revision. By contrast, it could be a reader’s favorite one of your books, and indeed it could be one of the reader’s favorite books overall. If you rewrite the book, that could really annoy the readers, especially if the book in question is a favorite of many of your readers.3.) Is It Worth Your Time?We touched on this above, but there’s only so much time to write in any given day. Would rewriting a previously published book be the best use of yours?4.) Is It Worth Rewriting?As we mentioned above, a writer’s judgment of his or her own work is often not in agreement with what the readers think of that book. And writers are notoriously poor judges of their own writing. I suspect that’s a reflection of how random writing can be sometimes. Like, you can plan something for months, and no one really notices, but something you threw in at the last minute becomes everyone’s favorite scene in a book.An example: I have a relative who is an amazing cook, but if you compliment her food, she gets angry because she never thinks it’s good enough and she only sees the flaws (which, to be honest, almost always exist only in her mind). Writers often have something of the same relationship with their books.So the book might not be as bad as you think it is, and rewriting it might be unnecessary.5.) Would You Be Psychologically Better Off Writing The Next Book?Writers, like many creatives, are prone to certain psychological traps, and two of them are endlessly repolishing old work and procrastination.You see some writers who get caught in the trap of endlessly rewriting and repolishing their first chapter, or their first book. Would republishing an older book be an aspect of that?Procrastination is something else to which writers are prone. It’s very easy to catch yourself doing “writing-adjacent” work like updating your website or whatever instead of actually writing down new words. Writing new stuff is always a bit of an expenditure of energy, and the human tendency is to procrastinate when faced with expending energy. That’s why at the gym you often see newcomers spending a lot of time fiddling with their playlists or trying to figure out the TVs instead of getting down to business with their workouts. It’s also why otherwise successful writers fall into the trap of writing prequels – it’s easier to expand upon the established story then striking out in a new direction. Republishing an old book might well be an aspect of that.6.) Let’s Summarize!So, to sum up: completely rewriting and republishing an old book isn’t something I would do.That said, it’s not necessarily a bad idea, so long as your answers to the previous five questions are good ones.-JM

Polk Games

My podcast transcriptionist informed me that her software rendered me saying “Cloak Games” as “Polk Games” instead. As in former US President James K. Polk.

Polk Games. That would have been a VERY different series of books.

Anyway, in the interest of amusement, here is a list of what the software thought I was saying when I said “The Pulp Writer Show.”

(This is why I don’t rely on machine transcription.)

Pallbearer Show
Pulp Rider Show
Polite Show/Politer Show
Pulp Burning Show
The Paul Brenner
Paul Brother Show
The Paul printer show
Pulp Printer Show
The Pulp Murder Show
Pop writer show
Pulp Runner Show
The Whole writer Show
pup Orator show
pulp Better show
pulp Reader show
The bull rider. Show

Polk Prayer Show
Pulp Rotor show
the Popery show.

Honestly, some of that sounds more exciting than what I actually do.

-JM

The Pulp Writer Show, Episode 213: 3 Techniques For Starting Your Novel & Introducing The Conflict Redux

In this week’s episode, we take a look back at one of our more popular episodes, which discusses three different methods for starting your novel and introducing the central conflict.

The episode ends with a preview of the audiobook of WIZARD-THIEF, as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward.

You can listen to the show with transcript at the official Pulp Writer Show site, and you can also listen to it at Spotify, Apple Podcasts , Amazon Music, and Libsyn.

-JM

What next?

Now that HALF-ORC PALADIN is out, what am I working on next?

-The next book will be SHIELD OF CONQUEST, and I am currently 12,000 words into it, which puts me on Chapter 3 of 22. If all goes well I am hoping that will be out in September.

-I am also 31,000 words into GHOST IN THE TOMBS, and I am very much hoping that will be out in October.

-I am 2,000 words into CLOAK OF ILLUSION, and if all goes well that will be out sometime in November.

Of course, that’s a pretty tight schedule. If anything slips everything will move back a month, of course, and that will pretty much take us to the end of 2024.

But that’s what I’m working on for the next few months.

-JM

HALF-ORC PALADIN now available!

I am pleased to report that HALF-ORC PALADIN, the third book in the HALF-ELVEN THIEF series, is now available!

Available in ebook at Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon DE, Amazon CA, Amazon AU, and for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

(Once all six books in the series are complete, probably in 2025, I plan to take it to other retailers as well.)

Thieves beware when wizards go to war.

Rivah Half-Elven is a thief of the Court of the Masked King, the thieves’ guild of the imperial city of Tar-Carmatheion.

With her debts paid off and a skilled crew at her back, Rivah is rising high in the Court.

But when an old acquaintance turns up dead on her doorstep, an ancient artifact of dark magic clutched in his hands, Rivah will need all her allies and cunning to survive.

Because dark magic is stirring that will not only destroy the Court of the Masked King, but all of Tar-Carmatheion.

-JM

The Pulp Writer Show, Episode 212: Using Dialogue To Create Distinct Characters Redux

In this week’s episode, we take a look back at one of 2022’s most popular episodes and discuss how to use dialogue to create distinctive characters.

You can listen to the show with transcript at the official Pulp Writer Show site, and you can also listen to it at Spotify, Apple Podcasts , Amazon Music, and Libsyn.

-JM

Ad results July 2024

Selling books during the summer is always challenging, since everyone’s attention is on travel and then the clock turns to the inevitable back to school expenses.

Selling books during the summer of a US presidential election year is extra challenging, since every time something newsworthy happens, book sales almost always drop as well. It’s almost as predictable as clockwork.

How do I know this?

I’ve been an indie author long enough that this is my fourth presidential election cycle since I started self-publishing.

Fourth! That means I’m on my third president since I started self-publishing. So I’ve seen this cycle and resultant sales drop happen before many times. It’s like the Book of Ecclesiastes:

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again…”

Or a C. Montgomery Burns quote from THE SIMPSONS:

“Tough times eh? I’ve lived through twelve recessions, eight panics and five years of McKinleynomics! I’ll survive this.”

That said, let’s see how my ads performed for July 2024. The amount listed is what I got back for every $1 spent.

Facebook ads:

CLOAK GAMES/MAGE: $3.65, $4.05 if you include audiobooks

THE GHOSTS: $3.46, $3.71 if you include audiobooks

Bookbub ads:

FROSTBORN: $2.51, $3.72 if you include audiobooks

Amazon ads:

STEALTH & SPELLS: CREATION: $1.79.

HALF-ELVEN THIEF: $1.31, $1.42 with the audiobook.

So despite the challenging sales environment, the ads did still turn a profit.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

-JM

WIZARD-THIEF audiobook now available!

I am very pleased to report that the audiobook of WIZARD-THIEF, as excellently narrated by Leanne Woodward, is now available!

You can listen to it at Audible, Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon AU, Kobo, Google Play, Payhip, Chirp, Storytel, and Spotify.

Since I am hoping HALF-ORC PALADIN will come out next week, that is good timing!

-JM