Emma Newman's Blog, page 21

How I wrote over 95,800 words in 34 days

I almost deleted that title. I'm worried it sounds kind of sleazy, like a lead in to some sales pitch for a book that will teach you how to do the same thing too.

It's not.

For one thing, I'm just going to tell you how I did it, without any kind of implication that you should do it the same way, or any hint that if you are "not capable of this too you are being a crap lazy good-for-nothing with delusions of being a writer" (don't you just hate those kinds of tweets and posts?). This is just what works for me, and there are some pretty large caveats, which I'll explain in a minute. But first, note that I didn't say:

"How I wrote a book in 34 days"

Because quite frankly, I haven't. I have written a first draft. That first draft is going to be combed through for details to put into my file so I don't have to refer back to it when writing the next book in the series, and then it is going to be locked away until next year.

Then it will be edited by me. Twice.

Then it will go to beta readers.

Then it will be edited again based on their feedback.

Then it will be sent to my editor.

Then it will be edited again based on his feedback.

Then it will go to a proof reader (maybe two or three) and then it will be corrected.

Only then, after all of that, will I have written a book. And that is months and months away.

Why over 95,800 words?

Well, because I'm a stickler for detail mostly, and during those 34 days I wrote all the launch materials for the Split Worlds, a sprinkling of blog posts and lots of tweets and things.

But for this post, let's focus on the 96 grand okay? Because that's the first draft of the first book set in the Split Worlds.

So, if I'm not telling you how to do this, why I am writing about it?

Well, I know a lot of my friends online are currently participating in Nanowrimo, in which the goal is to write 50,000 words in November. I thought that I'd share what I did over October and the first 3 days of November, and if any of it resonates, then cool, I might have helped a Nanowriter.

I'd like to add at this point that in the previous three years I attempted Nanowrimo twice, and failed on both occasions.

Before I go any further, here are those caveats I mentioned:

1: Writing a five book series over the next year is my full time job. I write these books, I write the year and a day of stories, and now I am just beginning to promote (or rather, encourage other people to help me promote in return for prizes) the Split Worlds project. That's all. No other day job to juggle, no other commitments other than being a mother and a wife.

2. This is not the first book I have written. Over the six or so years I wrote the 20 Years Later trilogy, along with all the short stories in From Dark Places (and others), I figured out how I write, what suits me and what does not. There is no way I could have done this six years ago.

3: I am contractually bound to deliver these books on a tight schedule. It's not a hobby, or something I'm trying out, and I think that makes a difference in terms of motivation. I hasten to add I wouldn't have it any other way, and I was the one who designed this schedule to fit with my strengths. But it did help on the odd day when I was knackered and just wanted to play Puzzle Quest.

So, now that I'm confident you know I'm not trying to sell you anything, or trying to tell you how to write (because for goodness sake, we are all different and we all need to find what works for us and there is no right or wrong way and if someone tells you that they are trying to sell you something – oh, sorry, rant over), here's what I did.

I set clear and achievable goals

I didn't know exactly how many words the book was going to be, but I knew it should be between 95,000 – 100,000 words to be about the right length for the series. So I set my goal at 100,000 words in five weeks, breaking it down to 20,000 a week, or 4,000 words a day 5 days a week.

Where I could, I split one of those into two 2,000 word days, but as a couple of those weekends had other commitments in them, it wasn't always possible.

Why 4,000 words a day? Because I knew I could do it if I was focused only on that book, and I only knew that because of an experiment I did and wrote about here.

I used the agile approach to planning a novel

I've written about the agile approach elsewhere, but the last thirty four days have really proven to me that this approach is the perfect fit for the way my brain works. I simply cannot predict every detail of a book when I am sitting down to plot the beginning. That post I mention talks about it in more detail, suffice it to say that it works for me. It also allows me to feel 'safe' when I'm writing, in that I know where I'm going, but not too far ahead, keeping it fresh and exciting as I write. It allows me to excavate what is there without bludgeoning it into a shape I might have thought I wanted.

As a result, my ideas for book two have had some radical changes, mostly because a minor character turned out to be much more interesting than I thought. I love it when that happens.

I prioritised writing the book over everything else

Aside from making sure my little boy went to school in a clean uniform every day and that we all had clean clothes the rest of the time, the rest of my usual chores did fall by the wayside at times, I admit it. I let the house go to hell during the week before Bristolcon and the launch week as I simply could not fit everything in.

Housework will always be there, and writing books is simply far more important. Sorry Mum.

It also means that my inbox is terrifying. If it wasn't critical, I didn't answer it. Sorry every who emailed me, I'm wading through the emails this week.

I wrote when I had a cold, I wrote when I was tired and when I didn't feel like it

My little boy started school in September. I was constantly ill for six weeks. Coughs and colds blended from one into the next as my little bean faithfully brought home every new germ in the county.

I drank Lemsips and got on with the words. I can tell you this, on some of those days I would have called in sick if I had a 'normal' job. But I couldn't let the word count slip as the schedule doesn't have room for it. And you know what? I didn't want to stop anyway. Also; naps are beautiful things.

I fell in love with the Split Worlds

If I had got 10,000 words in and hadn't done this, I would be in a lot of trouble. Thankfully, the more I write about and explore the Split Worlds, the more I want. Phew.

I had a lot of support from my husband

He's pretty epic in the whole "being married to a mad writer" department already, but he was kind enough to let me barge in whenever he was doing something to help me unknot my brain about a silly detail, and we went out for coffee at least once a week to bounce ideas around. Just having someone else for me to burble at really, really helps. Thanks darling.

I took a day off from writing one day out of every week

Without fail, I made sure that there was no typing of any materials whatsoever at least one day a week, to help avoid RSI as much as giving my brain a rest. And it was necessary, as all that writing is draining, really, really draining. In a good way.

I did not look back

The major advantage of writing so fast and with this amount of focus is that I never really left the world. It meant I didn't have to go and read a few chapters to "get back in" as I've had to on other books when I still had to earn a living doing other things. As a result, I didn't accidentally start to edit before a day of writing.

Editing and writing require completely different parts of my brain. They are mutually exclusive for me, and being able to stay in writing mode helped keep the dreaded censor at bay and the doubts too.

Those thirty four days were all about discovering the best path through the story, exploring the world and working out exactly who the characters are – this series, like all my books, is character driven as much as (if not more) plot driven, so getting to know them inside and out is one of the most critical tasks. I know there are descriptions to improve, chunks of exposition and throat clearing to hack away and placeholder clichés to winkle out and replace with something better. But that's for next year, when I put that first draft into my backpack and start the hike through the lands of editing.

And as I have said before, books (and heroes) are made in Editing Land.

If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments. I'd also love to hear about how you approach the first draft, and if you're nanoing (is that a verb yet?), how that's going.

Tales From the Split Worlds: The Good Client

This is the first in a year and a day of weekly short stories set in The Split Worlds.

If you would prefer me to read it to you, you can find the audio version here.

The Good Client

The client arrived on time in her usual timid manner.

"Hello Doctor Tate," Meryl said. The woman's voice, clothes, and the way her shoulders rolled forwards broadcast her insecurity.

"Good morning," Tate replied, standing to shake Meryl's hand briskly to mark the beginning of the session. Just like every week, she waved a hand at the large sofa, the coffee table empty except for the usual box of tissues and elegant blue glass bottle.

"I haven't had a very good week," Meryl said, her voice starting to waver before she'd even sat down. "I tried to put my weekly plan into action, but it never works out the way it should."

Tate sat down in the large leather chair on the other side of the table. "Tell me what your secondary goal was this week."

"I was-"

"My secondary goal was…" Tate corrected.

Meryl squirmed slightly, tugged at her skirt. "My secondary goal was to cleanse my environment of toxic influence." Already her bottom lip was starting to quiver.

"Let's talk about that toxic influence, and why it's important to remember your secondary goal."

Meryl sagged. "I'm finding this very hard."

"That's good," Tate soothed. "It means we're doing some work."

Meryl soaked up the tiny bit of reassurance like water to a wilting flower. "My husband is my major toxic influence, and my secondary goal last week was to throw him-"

"Was to remove that toxic influence from your environment."

"Yes. To remove his toxic…" Meryl's voice cracked, her hand flew to her mouth. "I'm sorry," she gasped as the tears broke free and tumbled down her cheeks. "We had a terrible row, he just doesn't understand what I'm going through."

Tate nodded, pushed the box of tissues across the table. Meryl plucked one out gratefully and blew her nose. "The toxic influence is always resistant to cleansing. By challenging its presence in your life, it can resort to hurting you in an effort to weaken your resolve."

Meryl nodded. "He did hurt me. He said the most awful things about me, about you!"

Tate straightened. "Me?"

"He says you're a quack, and a charlatan and that I shouldn't see you anymore."

"You do understand why he said that, don't you?" Meryl just sobbed into the tissue, so she carried on. "It's because he's threatened. For the first time in your life, you have an advocate, someone fighting in your corner and helping you to evolve."

Meryl nodded.

"And that's what this is all about Meryl, that's what your primary goal is after all. To be a strong, independent and powerful woman."

"Do you really think I can be that?" Meryl sobbed.

"Oh I absolutely do Meryl. But you have to follow the plan. Are you still committed to your primary goal?" Meryl, unable to speak, resorted to frantically nodding her head. Tate leant forwards. "Then let's examine why you're struggling to make progress."

Meryl looked up from her tissue, her bloodshot eyes wide with the fear of having displeased her. "I'll try harder, I will!"

"What held you back this week?"

"I was feeling a bit low. About my weight. I know I'm not ever going to be a supermodel, but just being a bit slimmer would…" her voice trailed off.

"I want you to explore that," Tate said. "I want you to imagine you're standing in front of a mirror. You hear a voice inside you when you do that, don't you?"

"Yes," Meryl was curling like a fern leaf in frost.

"It says 'You're so fat, you're so ugly, no-one else will ever want to be with you', doesn't it?"

Meryl was back to just nodding again.

"Don't be afraid of how it makes you feel, you're in a safe place," Tate said, reaching silently for the large glass bottle. "I want you to feel that self-loathing. Let it fill you."

Meryl was shaking now, oblivious to the slight smile that twitched across Tate's face as she eased the cork out of the bottle. "How can you make progress when you're a fat, ugly woman?"

That did it. Meryl gasped and Tate thrust the bottle in front of her. "Blow it into the bottle Meryl! Blow that self-loathing out!"

The client bawled into the glass neck, her wailing sobs filling the room too. At the end of the breath, Tate stoppered the bottle swiftly and smiled broadly. "There, it's not yours anymore," she cooed, barely heard above Meryl's hysterical crying. "Another barrier gone. There, there."

By the time Meryl was able to string two words together, the clock was chiming in the hour.

"Good work this week Meryl. That's the end of our time I'm afraid."

Blinking, Meryl wobbled to her feet. Her blotched skin and puffed eyes disgusted Tate, but she didn't show any of it. The client allowed herself to be steered to the door, and delivered to the waiting receptionist to be taken to the recovery room.

Tate swept the sodden tissues into a wooden box ready for later processing and washed her hands. She checked the cork was still firmly in place and went to her desk.

Shoes kicked off, she flopped back into the grand chair, put her feet up and pulled the phone out of its cradle, dialling the number from memory.

"It's me. I've got some good shit my friend."

"Tell me more," the client's voice didn't lose its velvet, even over the telephone.

"Pure self-loathing, very strong, very fruity."

"Excellent, I'll pay the usual for it. What about the other order?"

"Oh, the one for distilled loneliness? That has a longer lead time, you know that. I estimate two to three months, but it will be absolutely pure."

"It's good to have such a reliable supplier," he said. "I don't know how you do it, but you're one of the best."

"Why thank you." Her toes wriggled. "Always a pleasure to do business."

—

I hope you enjoyed it! Next week's story will be on another blog. If you don't want to miss it, sign up to the Split Worlds newsletter and get another exclusive story for free

 

Unveiling the big project!

So, today's the day I let you all know what I've been squirreling away at over the past few months. First I told you about securing an investor to be able to write full time (which is proving to be even better than I thought it would be) and then I told you about the schedule involved to make the project happen.

Now it's time to reveal…

The Split Worlds!

Attendees of Bristolcon and my lovely VIPs have already been given a sneaky peek, and I've been so thrilled by their response! I ran a little competition at the con involving a prop I've made for a character in the Split Worlds (that weird looking thing on the left) and a little scroll tied with black ribbon was put in the goody bags. I'll be emailing the entrants with the answer this week.

The Split Worlds website is here by the way.

If the Split Worlds sounds familiar, it's because it began life as a Friday Flash I wrote quite some time ago about a shopkeeper and a very strange shop. People liked it and I started to write more stories, growing a quirky world in which I started to spend a lot of my daydreaming time.

Then I got a publisher for 20 Years Later and realised that I really should finish that trilogy before getting too sucked into the Split Worlds. But it all bubbled away in the background until it started to come out in other stories here and there. One of those stories is in the new Eighty Nine anthology by the way.

When the 20 Years Later trilogy was safely out of my head and on the page, I knew the Split Worlds was going to be the next project and I knew I wanted to do it all differently. There's a huge story there, so a trilogy was never going to be enough. Then I realised I wasn't going to be satisfied with just writing a series of books. It had to be more.

A Year and Day of stories set in the Split Worlds

I always wanted to write a year and day of weekly flashes, it just seemed to fit. So the first one is published tomorrow, leading up to the launch of the first Split Worlds book on November 1st 2012, which makes a total of 54 stories, according to my spreadsheet anyway! They will be available in text and audio format, as I know that some of you like listening to me read you stories.

Every week a story will be hosted on a different blog / website – would you like to host one? Let me know in the comments if you do.

You can sign up to a newsletter that will let you know where to find the story every week, and you also get a free short story when you do that, one that won't appear anywhere else.

And there's more

Running alongside these stories will be live events, games, treasure hunts and all kinds of opportunities for you to get to know the characters and places in the Split Worlds.

I'm also running a "thank you for helping me promote the Split Worlds" points and prizes doohicky. This is an attempt to spread the word about the project without having to do that icky self-promotion thing, and offer presents to people who help me do that.

What this really is

Now, there's a risk this might sound a bit silly, but I really do think that this project is the best way that I can combine all of my passions, hobbies and insatiable urge to write into the best sum of my parts.

No, it's not just that. This is the closest I can come to immersing people into this quirky world that I'm creating. You see, that's what I've always been aiming for, with all these years of GMing and roleplaying, of reading voraciously and writing books and stories – I want to go to other worlds and I want to take people with me.

I want to take you into the Split Worlds, be it by writing a series of stories and books that you fall into and never want to leave, be it by writing a letter from one of the characters and posting it to your house, be it by asking you to play games that will change the way you see the world around you.

Yeah, that's what I want. Come with me. The Split Worlds are there to be discovered.

Bristolcon 2011

Last weekend I went to my first science-fiction convention. I went to a couple of ST:TNG ones when I was about 17 years old, but all I remember of those was mucking about in Star Trek uniforms with my friends and a few embarrassing conversations that I'd prefer to forget.

So much has changed since then. I'm no longer obsessed with The Next Gen for a start, only a nostalgic fondness remains, and I am a lot less confident and more anxious than I used to be. Needless to say that for days in advance I was really nervous; not only was it an inherently scary 'big groups of people' social situation, I was also doing a bit of advance previewing of my next project (much more about that tomorrow).

I'm delighted to report that I had an absolutely fantastic day. I mean, really fantastic. In the build-up to the event the lovely Jo Hall (@hierath77) looked after me brilliantly, and then on the day the very fluffy Mark (are you on Twitter Mark?) greeted me in the dealer's room and put me at ease instantly. Meg (@djelibeybi_meg) also did a huge amount to make me feel cared for and secure in the knowledge of where I was supposed to be and when. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In fact, despite all of the fretting in the build-up, I knew in the first five minutes that I was going to be absolutely fine. Why? Because about three minutes after I arrived I was chatting happily about roleplaying, with people who also roleplay. No weird looks, no need to explain what it is: bliss. I very rarely talk about roleplaying outside of circles I actually roleplay with, so it was such a joy to talk to new people about it!

A big milestone

I had my first ever panel appearance in the afternoon (boy was I scared!) and that too turned out to be quite enjoyable. Panels are effectively open conversations taking place between several people up on a stage, led by a moderator and then opened to the floor. The panel was about writing tools and tips, and even though I was convinced I knew nothing about this about thirty seconds before it started, it turned out I did have something to contribute, and I even enjoyed it!

Before I go any further, I also want to say a huge thank you to my best mate Kate who travelled all the way down from London to help me out.

Other highlights

There was a book signing part of the afternoon and I was fortunate enough to be seated next to Philip Reeve (@PhilipReeve1), author of the Mortal Engines books, and what a thoroughly lovely chap he is. I felt like a little newly hatched chick next to him, he's been a published writer for many more years than I, but he was so kind and warm I didn't feel awkward.

I also met Paul Cornell (@Paul_Cornell) and what a great guy! We had a good laugh talking about my embarrassingly severe crush on China Miéville and all kinds of geeky fun – including roleplaying.

A talk given by Keith (@ScrivenerApp) who invented Scrivener (cool writing software). What a lovely bloke! We chatted about writing and word counts too and it was very cool to meet the guy (and his good lady wife) behind the software I've heard so much about.

I got to hang out with Gareth Powell (@garethlpowell) again, of whom I have become very fond. We have been to several events together, both of us being Somerset authors, and I bagged a signed copy of The Recollection too, which made me happy.

I met Anne Lyle (@annelyle) too, and we talked about how lovely Adam Christopher (@ghostfinder) is and how cool the cover of Empire State is too. I went to Anne's reading from The Alchemist of Souls coming in April 2012 from Angry Robot Books and it's on my 'to buy' list.

I even bumped into an old friend from university, Kat, which was a fabulous surprise. She has convinced me to go to Eastercon too ?

The quiz was great fun, and would you believe I genuinely relaxed? I didn't want to go home at the end of it!

What made it such a great day?

The people, simply enough. Everyone was so friendly, the organisers were so helpful and couldn't have done more to make me feel at ease and safe. There was a fantastic atmosphere; just lots of happy people, talking about stuff they love.

It wasn't just that though, for me, it was that they were my kind of people. It really made me appreciate how I really do not fit in at most 'mainstream' social events. I don't watch the TV shows that most people watch, I don't have mainstream hobbies, I am, quite frankly, a little bit weird. To be able to hang out in a bar with other people who are weird in the same way is something I haven't enjoyed since my university days, and I never realised how much I miss it.

Thank goodness for Twitter (I know I keep saying that) as the party has continued all week chatting to people who also went. (I'm looking at you @Jorence and @Timmaughan)

So, roll on Bristolcon 2012! I will be buying my membership as soon as it opens, and I heartily recommend it if you love sci-fi and lovely geeky, interesting, fun and creative people too.

On being a word count bore

If you follow me on Twitter or are still weathering the storm on Facebook, you'll know that over the past week I've been regularly giving updates on my daily word count.

I wanted to apologise, because I'm being a word count bore and I am fully aware of that fact. But I don't want to stop updating, so I thought it would be polite to explain why this has happened.

It's about two things; accountability and production schedules.

Remember that bit of news I told you about a new book series, and getting the funding for it? Well, it's a five book series, and it's a tight schedule.

I need to write those five books in one year.

I wasn't sure about whether I should talk about this

I discussed it with my husband, with a couple of friends, and of course, with my investor. I was concerned that if I said to people "I'm writing this series in a year" the immediate impression would be that this is being rushed, and therefore, low quality.

But as I talked it through, I realised that one of the things I value about having a blog is being to share with you guys what this writing life is like. I've been open about the angst of not getting published, about the joy of finding a publisher, about chronic anxiety and post-natal depression. So to not share this next two years of my life with you seems… odd.

And somehow deceitful.

Then I realised that if I share the process as it happens, not only will you see how and why the way I'm doing this won't result in a rushed project, I'll also have a place to come and empty my brain and who knows, maybe help some writers too.

So, back to the five books in one year thing.

Why? Well, it comes down to the way I like to write and to funding. Let's get the latter out of the way first, as it's a lot less sexy. I couldn't get the amount of investment required to fund me for three years whilst I wrote this series, then another two to promote, or whatever more relaxed schedule I could suggest. In another post I'll explain a bit more about the nature of the investment – it's not a blank cheque, and it's business driven – but before I even secured the funding, I knew I wanted to write my next series this way.

I write my best material when I'm fully immersed. When editing books 2 and 3 of the 20 Years Later trilogy, the parts that were written when I was being pulled off in other directions needed the most editing, the parts that I wrote in mad word orgies when I shut out the world and just satisfied the beast were the smoothest, better paced and least clunky.

And when I wrote the first draft of 20 Years Later, I wrote it in 26 days. This is the way I like to write, it enables me to produce my best work and when I realised that, I knew I didn't want to do anything but write this next series. I didn't want to cram it in between all the other stuff that pays the bills, and somewhere along the line I had accepted that I had to do that. When I challenged that assumption and started to think about how I might live my life differently and approach my writing career in a way I hadn't previously imagined, something changed. That's when I knew I had to approach this is next series with a totally different mindset, take a huge risk and change my life. But that's for another post.

The new series

The schedule is ambitious. Each book's first draft has 5 weeks allocated to it. That's 20k a week, for five weeks, with the aim of ending up with a book of 90,000-95,000 words after editing.

This is just the first draft.

I planned the schedule to build in as much time as possible (minimum two months, often more) after each first draft to put it away and do the next book, or the other juicy stuff I have planned for your entertainment. Then I have time allocated to produce a second draft that goes out to my beta readers. After their feedback I'll produce a third draft. Then it goes to a professional editor. Then there is a fourth edit. Then after another rest period, there's a last check and then it will be typeset and proofed.

It's the same quality control process used for 20 Years Later, only condensed, and without the post-natal depression and angsting over getting published parts.

There's no way I could have done this two years ago. In writing the rest of the 20 Years Later trilogy I worked out the way I like to write books, how I organise my time around my writing for optimum efficiency and how to write through my own fear. My eyes are open.

Hang on, 100k in five weeks? Five times in a row?

Yes. The first draft of the series should be done by mid May 2012.

Is this an insane plan?

Well… sometimes it feels that way, sometimes it doesn't. It's only the first draft. And I started working on this in terms of serious research and planning back in June and the world itself has been growing in a dark corner of my brain for almost two years. There is no way on this green earth that I could invent a world as complex as this in such a short time frame. So when I think of it like that; to just get the words down to map a way through the story, get to know the characters, work out all of the details of the world and make sure it hangs together, 500k in 8 months doesn't seem too bad (squeaks and hurries off to make a cup of tea).

It shakes down to 4k a day five days a week, and I can chop up my rest days any way I need to. And don't forget, this is my full-time job now. I don't have to give my words to anyone else anymore. When I was writing the 20 Years Later trilogy and working as a commercial SEO copywriter, I was cranking out close to that on most weeks. I was just miserable whilst doing it.

So why am I always reporting my progress?

Well, this is where accountability, transparency, and just not being alone comes into the mix. And ego, yeah, it feels good to meet a daily or weekly word count goal and to share it with my friends. It makes me happy when people cheer me along. After all, I'm only human.

I'm also reminded of when I was in a slump and one of my favourite writer friends Adam Christopher was working on Empire State (it's being published by Angry Robot and my God it looks good) and Seven Wonders. He was very open about his daily word counts and I found it inspirational to see him grinding away, day after day. He was reminding and educating me about the commitment and stamina required to write a book. With Nanowrimo round the corner, I suppose there's a tiny bit of me (edging very close to conceit here, I do apologise) that's hoping another writer will see me hammering away at these first drafts and think "well, if she can do it, I can too."

But I may also be boring, so please, forgive me. Now, I have to go and write my first 1k of the day, I'll see you on the other side.

P.S. You can follow my progress with that little word count widget on the right. If you click on it, it gives you an insight into each sprint.

P.P.S. I neglected to mention this process requires an extraordinary amount of tea.

A guest post from one of my heroes!

Hello my lovely ones. Whilst I'm hammering out book 1 (you can see I've been busy from the word counter over there on the right) I'm delighted to welcome one of my heroes to the blog; Catherine Ryan Howard. She blogs at www.catherineryanhoward.com by the way.

I first came across Catherine on Twitter (many of you know how much of a fan of that place I am) and I warmed to her immediately. I went to her blog, saw what amazing things she was doing and I have to confess, I developed one of those little harmless internet crushes. You know, when you subscribe to new posts and read them as soon as they come out, and get excited when they talk to you on Twitter.

Luckily for me, Catherine is funny, friendly and spectacularly helpful. I heartily recommend her book Self-Printed: The Sane Person's guide to Self-Publishing which I devoured a few weeks ago.

Catherine's latest novel "Results Not Typical" is out now, and I am more than delighted to welcome her to my place today to talk about pricing and selling self-published e-books. Then I'll tell you all about the book (including how you can win a copy of the e-book version). Em x

Over to Catherine!

WHO IS READING THE 99c BOOKS?

As a self-publisher, I often wonder who it is who's keeping me in coffee grounds by buying what I call "The 99c Books" – the low-priced novels that have made e-book self-publishers like Amanda Hocking, John Locke and JA Konrath into household names. It's a mystery to me because even though they sell millions and millions of books and I know a lot of readers, I don't know anyone who has read any of their titles.

Of the people I know who own a Kindle or other e-reading device, none regularly read self-published books, be they 99c or $9.99. In most cases the only self-published books readers I know have read is mine, and that's because they know me. Chances are they wouldn't have touched a self-published book otherwise, because they'd expect it to be bad.

And in expecting that, they wouldn't be alone. Last week author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford asked his readers if they'd ever read a self-published book. The poll results were promising (71% had said yes at time of writing) but the comments told a different story. It seemed that once readers had encountered one or two bad self-published books, they were extremely unlikely to give any other self-published books a chance.

Commenters said things like:

– "If I don't recognize the [publisher's] name, I google it. If the book is self-published, it's a major turnoff."

– "The best of [the self-published books I've read] read like a rough draft of something that could eventually, with enough polish and care, become unspectacular mid-list fiction."

– "I read a self-published novel a few years ago and found myself understanding why a publisher hadn't picked up."

– "There's a reason there are gatekeepers, and it's not for typos."

How many self-published novels have I read? Shamefully, just half of one. (If karma was the reason my books sold, I'd be in real trouble…!) I downloaded it because I read an article about the author getting a traditional book deal, and I thought, "Wow. That must be good." But it wasn't for me, although I think I made things difficult for myself by setting my brain to Look For Problems Mode on page one. There's a few self-published novels on my To Read list but, again, it's only because I know the authors and trust that they've written good books.

So how is it that, despite this prejudice against self-published books, self-published books are selling so well for some authors? Well, I suspect that when a self-published book gets a sale, one of the following things has happened:

– Amazon's algorithms churned up the book's title (e.g. in "Customers Also Bought" or some similar feature) and the purchaser downloaded and liked the sample, and so decided to buy the book

– As above, but the purchaser was convinced enough by the product description, reviews, etc. to buy the book outright

– As above but with the purchaser thinking, "Well, it's only 99c so even if it's total rubbish I don't lose out…"

– The purchaser has encountered the author elsewhere (their blog, Twitter, another book) and is already a fan

– Someone has recommended the book to the purchaser

– The purchaser genuinely doesn't care if the book is self or traditionally published

– The purchaser doesn't realize the book is self-published.

But why does it matter what's led to a sale? Surely all that matters is that there's been one? It matters because if you can figure out why a person has bought your book, you can use that data to hopefully convince somebody else to buy it too.

For example if those really are the motivations that lead to the purchase of a self-published book, here's what you can do to improve your chances of getting that "Buy" button clicked on your listing:

– Make sure the beginning of your book – the sample – is strong enough to persuade all who read it to keep reading (although this really should be the case already or else your book's not ready!)

– Write a fantastic product description and get editorial reviews from book bloggers, other authors, etc. to make your Amazon listing as persuasive as possible

– Price your book to sell. I firmly believe self-published e-books of standard length should be 99c, $1.99 or $2.99. Remember to look at the big picture: if someone buys your first novel for 99c and likes it, they'll probably be willing to pay $2.99 or maybe even $4.99 for the next one

– Do everything you can to promote your voice online – blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Note that I didn't say "promote your book online." That's just annoying, and it gets boring real quick. You have a far better chance of selling books if you can get people to like you, i.e. your writing style, your perspective, your humor, etc. Then with very little effort, a gentle push (like a reminder that your book is out now) will ensure they go buy your book

– Write a good book! All the great successes in publishing involve word-of-mouth; people recommending the book to their friends, followers, etc.

– Don't look self-published. I'm not talking about pretending you're traditionally published, which is dishonest, stupid and depending on what lengths you go to to pretend, potentially illegal. I mean make your book and everything connected to it look as professional an operation as a traditionally published book would be. Hire a cover designer to make a striking cover – stay away from those god-awful "Cover Creator" programs the self-publishing services have. Write a great blurb that reads like copy a professional copywriter would produce. Refrain from adding things like '"Best book ever!"- Author's Mum' to your listing; it doesn't matter if the endorsement is the best thing anyone's ever said about a book in the history of the world – it's completely irrelevant if it isn't from someone important, and including it screams "amateur".

Self-publishing has a bad name, for sure, but the more self-publishers who pull up their socks and do it right, the faster we can start to get away from it. Not to mention the fact that we'll sell more books as well – it's a win-win situation.

 

Thanks Catherine! Okay, here's all the info about Results Not Typical.

The Devil Wears Prada meets Weightwatchers and chick-lit meets corporate satire in the debut novel from Catherine Ryan Howard, author of the bestselling memoir Mousetrapped: A Year and A Bit in Orlando, Florida.

Through their Ultimate Weight Loss Diet Solution Zone System, Slimmit International Global Incorporated claim they're making the world a more attractive place one fatty at a time. Their slogans "Where You're Fat and We Know It!" and "Where the Fat IS Your Fault!" are recognised around the globe, the counter in the lobby says five million slimmed and their share price is as high as their energy levels. But today the theft of their latest revolutionary product, Lipid Loser, will threaten to expose the real secret behind Slimmit's success…

The race is on to retrieve Lipid Loser and save Slimmit from total disaster. If their secrets get out, their competitors will put them out of business. If the government finds out, they'll all go to jail. And if their clients find out… Well, as Slimmit's Slimming Specialists know all too well, there's only one thing worse than a hungry, sugar-crazed, carb addict – and that's an angry one. Will the secret behind Slimmit's success survive the day, or will their long-suffering slimmers finally discover the truth? Available now in paperback and e-book editions.

Results Not Typical on Amazon.co.uk

Results Not Typical on Amazon.com

Goodreads Giveaway:

If you are on Goodreads, visit http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/14791-results-not-typical to enter a giveaway to win one of five paperback copies of Results Not Typical. Open for entries from September 30th-October 31st. Open to all countries.

Grand e-book giveaway!

With Catherine's kind permission, I can offer 3 e-book copies of Results Not Typical (in any e format) as a giveaway. All you need to do is say hello in the comments and I'll pick 3 winners using a random number doohicky. I'll enter you twice if you share a slimming horror story and/or a comment about self-publishing. Go!

 

News! And it's big!

Over the last two months I've been quieter than usual, occasionally popping up to say that I'm busy. I've talked about clearing things out, purging and preparations but not the reason why.

Well, I have some News. Yes, it's so important I capitalised it.

In the summer, I secured funding from a private investor to write and publish my next series of novels. The investor (who wishes to remain anonymous) has given me the freedom to write and produce these books over the next two years, and some other really cool other stuff too.

I am now a full-time fiction writer.

No more commercial copywriting to pay the bills, no more fretting about how to juggle the fiction writing with all the stuff I had to do to support my family. Writing books is now right where it should be: the centre of my life and receiving all of my creative energy and effort.

I start writing the first book tomorrow. But, being the cruel beast that I am, I'm not going to tell you anything about that book, the series or what is going to be happening over the next two years – yet. Why? Because there is going to be a big launch on October 31st. Only the people on my VIP list will find out before then, and people going to BristolCon 2011 will get a very special sneaky preview in their goody bags.

But rest assured that over the last two months I have been working crazy long hours to clear my other commitments and plan this project. I've also been writing fiction that I haven't been able to share yet, so apologies to short story club members for the lack of stories. That will change very soon….

Self-publishing when you have a traditional publisher already?

That might seem a bit odd, considering I worked so hard, for so many years, to get a publishing contract for 20 Years Later. Well, suffice it to say for now that this next series is going to be very, very different to the 20 Years Later trilogy, and therefore completely outside of Dystopia Press's remit to publish dystopian and post-apocalyptic books.

And you know, I just want to do this by myself.

Having secured this funding, I can employ the professionals I need to ensure the books are the very best they can be, so I feel like this will be the best of both worlds; I'll be able to afford professional editors, typesetters, cover designers, printers etc whilst retaining creative control over every single aspect and I won't have to spend another five years trying to find a home for the books.

And yes, I'm a control freak

So, there you go; the end of an era and the beginning of the rest of my life. This is a hugely ambitious (one might argue crazy) project, and I can't wait to share it with you. I would not be writing this post, knowing that I can devote my life to this new project for the next two years without your support, encouragement and downright loveliness.

So I wanted to say thank you. I absolutely would not be here without you guys. You are utterly splendid.

Tea is the Fear Killer

That was almost the new name for my site. I sounded people out on it and whilst lots of people liked it, more preferred "Em's Place" and so here we are, enewman.co.uk has a shiny new picture and name.

Shedding a skin

For the last few months I've been feeling less comfortable with Post-Apocalyptic Publishing as a blog name. For one thing, I don't just write post-apocalyptic fiction, and for another, this is a writing blog, not a publishing one.

It's also the fact that life is almost unrecognisable compared to when I first dreamt up this little nook of mine. I was in a post-apocalyptic state; I was still clawing my way out of the pit of post-natal depression, which was one of the reasons the blog was named as it was.

Em's Place

So why 'Em's Place' and not the glory of tea and fear killing? Well, I wanted to have a name that reflected the way this online space feels to me, somewhere comfy and welcoming, where there are kind people who leave lovely comments. And tea. I want people to feel like they are entering somewhere that is distinctly mine too, and that leads me on to the picture at the top.

It's homespun, but in the nicest sense I hope. I trawled the royalty free image sites looking for pictures with books and tea, but none fitted. Pictures of open books with teacups on them just made me shudder – I'd never put a cup of tea on an open book! Those with the right kind of composition had the wrong teapots, or coffee pots (not that I have anything against coffee, indeed I love it, but it just isn't tea, is it?) or bizarre cups I'd never drink from. Then I realised the only way to get a picture that was just right was to take it myself.

Or rather, gather up some of the most important things in my creative life and take them to my Stepdad's house on a rainy Sunday morning, and have him take a picture with his ace camera. He's a good photographer, no?

It's about stepping out too

It took months and months for me to feel comfortable online, and this was the first place I did. But I was still a long way from being completely me here. I talk about anxiety quite openly, but there are things I never talk about that I plan to share very soon (hence the big pile of dice in the centre) that are very much part of me. Making a space really your own can increase vulnerability, but I think I'm ready now. Over the next few weeks I plan to tell you all about each of the weird little things in the picture, though of course, you know about the books already. Oh, that reminds me…

Preview hardback joy

The hardback of 20 Years Later is arriving later than advertised (sorry lovely patient ones) but believe me, when you see the hardback you won't be disappointed. Dystopia Press sent me a couple of preview copies and it really was the purest bibliophilic joy when I saw them. They are properly bound, absolutely beautifully made… I can't wait until they are released!

It looks like it's going to be a mid-November release date for the US, early December for the UK, as ever I will keep you posted. Of course, if you can't wait for the hardbackasmic hit, it's already available on the Kindle, Nook and all those e-book places you normally buy from.

Other news

Well blimey, it's all been going on, so here is a quick round-up:

From Dark Places is out in audiobook format!

Read by yours truly, published by Iambik Audio and available to buy here.

TimeSplash is out in audiobook format too!

This is a fantastic sci-fi thriller written by one of my favourite people Graham Storrs

Read by yours truly too, published by Iambik Audio and available to buy here.

There's some really big news coming very, very soon, but it deserves a post all of its own. Until then my lovely ones!

A new wound to lick

I've been quiet again, but this time it hasn't just been because life is so ridiculously full (though that is still a factor), it's also because I've been hiding away licking some wounds.

Several times over my life I have just withdrawn completely from my social life. My very best friends understand that I do this from time to time and that eventually I'll pop back up again. They forgive me for the radio silence, ask what was going on and then I tell them about whatever the wound was and they nod and hug and life goes on. It seems that I'm doing that again, but this time it's with my blog.

It's a weird time at the moment. There are endings and beginnings flying around all over the place, bashing me over the head, smashing and creating things willy-nilly. Some of these endings are related to the beginnings. Most of the beginnings are things I can't talk about yet, and are absorbing a lot of my time and attention now, but in time (just over a month in fact) you'll all see what I've been squirrelling away at for the last few weeks.

But there is one beginning that isn't something I need to be secretive about. It's something that happens to thousands of families all over the world, every September.

My little boy started school. He is four and a half years old. And it is killing me.

This is hard to write about, but I'm hoping that if I do, I can reassure you guys that I do still exist and I do still love you and my blog and that I haven't run off to live up in the mountains somewhere and herd goats or something equally unlikely for an asthmatic who hates heights and steep slopes.

It took me by surprise you see, that's why I'm still reeling, even though this is the end of his second week. He went to pre-school for three mornings a week, being in a different building for five mornings a week wasn't going to be such a big deal I thought.

I was so very, very wrong.

It started the night before. We'd all made a big fuss of him for starting school the next day, it was all happy and positive. I put him to bed and carried on checking that everything was ready for the first day; clothes labelled, all that kind of thing.

I was stressed. I didn't acknowledge it at the time, it sneaked up on me. I didn't sleep well. I woke early and worried and then the first school run happened. It's a 35 minute walk to his school, or a five minute drive, but we're keen to keep up the exercise when we can, so we walked. And the whole way, we chattered and he was fine and happy. We waited in the playground until they were invited in and he looked straight ahead after kissing us goodbye, eyes on where he was going and didn't seem fazed at all.

I, on the other hand, dissolved. I managed to hide it until we'd left the school grounds, the hubby and I crossed the street and I just burst into tears. I sobbed. Then we walked home and I went through the morning in a daze, occasionally fielding calls from curious relatives, but mostly being shocked at how much I hurt.

Late to the party

I had severe post-natal depression and only started to come out of it when he was about three years old. In the last year and a half I have come to understand what everyone talks about when they talk about that feeling of absolute, pure, total love you have for your child. Not every second, but a lot, and it's easy to call up. I didn't have that for 3 years. I don't feel ready to write about what I had instead, but suffice to say, I missed out on such a lot. Luckily my little man had many loving people around him, and seems to have come through unscathed (she says with desperate hope) and we have a fantastically close relationship now.

I'm wondering if that's why this has hit me so hard. I think that's part of it, I feel a terrible grief whenever I drop him off at school, but I don't think that's all of it.

The curse of good memory

I remember large chunks of my childhood far too well. At least I think I do. Maybe if I could travel back in time I would see that I've filtered it through dark spectacles, but whatever the truth of it, I have vivid memories of feeling utterly terrified for a lot of the time.

The worst times were when there were lots of other children, all running around and screaming as children often do, and at night. I was an only child, my son is an only child, I see a lot of me in him. When there are big groups of noisy kids he shrinks back, just like I did. He's happy as Larry with adults, just like I was.

And every day, I abandon him in a room with loads of noisy kids, and only two adults, who don't know him. I am wilfully putting him through what I found so hard and the guilt is horrific.

Get a grip woman!

I know I am being pathetic and over-protective. I know that up here, at brain level. But my guts are writhing. I just want to keep him close for just a little bit longer, keep those scary times and awful experiences at bay just a little bit longer. But I can't. And that is for me to deal with, here, in the corner, quietly licking my wounds like some old mangy dog who's seen too many summers. So if I'm quiet for a while, this is why. I'm sure normal service will resume shortly.

Have any of you guys gone through this?

Not dead yet…

I've been away for over a week and am clawing my way through a very fat inbox. I'm also feeling the pressure of not posting for a while, so I'm taking a break from "Getting my Life Back in Order" and thought I'd check in with you lovely people.

Beware the tumbleweeds

I popped onto Twitter last night to say hello and reassure people I hadn't died. I'd only been away for 10 days. That might sound weird if you're not a fan of Twitter, but I genuinely worry if some of my Twitter friends go quiet for a while. It's got me thinking about the way I live my life now, and how social media adds a new dimension of social pressure, as well as loveliness.

As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of Twitter and I firmly believe it has done wonders for my writing career. But there's one thing I just don't seem to be able to do, and that's keep a presence on there when I am out and about in the world.

The tech is there…

I have a clever phone with a Twitter app that's fairly easy to use. The thing is, when I'm doing things, like attending courses that I thought were one thing and turned out to be completely different (and actually quite traumatic), being interviewed by a freelance journalist or racing around the country meeting people in preparation for the Next Big Project, I simply cannot remember to pick up the phone and tweet about what I am doing. Even when it's interesting.

Surely that's what Twitter is all about?

It's been said (I can't remember by whom) that being successful on Twitter is all about having an interesting life and being yourself. I have nailed the latter; when I'm at home, on the computer for 12 – 14 hours a day I can handle chatting away and helping people whenever I can. But when life gets a bit more interesting again, I'm too busy being in it. When I do remember to tweet, I then feel a bit stupid about telling people what I'm doing. Why would they want to know that, I think to myself, and then my feed goes silent for days on end.

It's like photos

I am absolutely terrible at photographs – both being in them (I run away whenever I can) and remembering to take them. I'm too busy being there, doing it, to remember to get the camera out. Perhaps this is just the same as Twitter.

Then there's the jumping back in bit

There have been times when I've been away from Twitter for over a week. A couple of bouts of flu for example, and each time, including this last one, I always have a moment of hesitation before jumping back in. It feels like wandering out of quiet back streets and stumbling across a six-lane motorway full of speeding cars and juggernauts. Once I've said hello and friends reply, it suddenly transmutes into a hybrid of the archetypical country pub, Cheers and the best writers hang-out in the world. With links to funny stuff on YouTube, and breaking news faster than anything else I know.

How do you handle it?

Now I've reassured people I'm not dead, I can sit back and laugh at my reluctance to dive back in. Today I've caught up with friends, tried to help someone find an illustrator for their book, asked for opinions and recommendations on websites designed specifically for a particular book or trilogy (and got some great answers) and discussed the emotional nature of writing the last chapter of a book with a fellow writer. All from the comfort of my home office, whilst getting loads of other stuff done. How cool is that?

If only I could keep it up when life takes me outside of the office. Or do you think that doesn't matter? How do you manage the online life when the real world life gets too busy?