Chuck Barrett's Blog, page 8
October 2, 2012
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained—Epilogue
It is now October 2012, and my experiment ended months ago. So how did it all work out? Is KDP Select worth it? How about the giveaway, was it worth it? I’d like to be able to give a definitive ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but I’m afraid it just isn’t that simple. There are certainly pros and cons that need to be weighed into your decision PRIOR TO a giveaway.
First let me give you a little history of Kindle sales of The Savannah Project and The Toymaker. The Savannah Project first became available on Kindle in May of 2010 and sales did nothing for months and months. 2010 totals were 43. Depressing, right? In May of 2011, one year after its release, I lowered the price to 99¢, as seemed to be the popular thing to do, and sales immediately picked up. In 2011, The Savannah Project sold 3645 and was steadily increasing. Each month I saw a rise in sales.
February 2012 saw the release of The Toymaker. Sales were good from the start at a price of $4.99. So, I started reading about all these independent authors who have made big money with great rankings by doing the KDP Select giveaways. I mulled it over until May of 2012 and decided to give it a try. Little did I know that in March, Amazon had once again changed its algorithms.
The Giveaway: In Mid-May, I did a 3-day offering of The Toymaker and a week after it ended I did the same with The Savannah Project.
The Results: 33,000 copies of The Toymaker and 10,000 copies of The Savannah Project were given away in the month of May.
Sales: While The Toymaker was on giveaway, the first book in the series, The Savannah Project showed an increase in sales at a price of $3.99 but during its giveaway, there was no increase for The Toymaker. I attributed it to the difference in the giveaway numbers. Was there a bump in sales, you ask? Absolutely, although short-lived from what I was led to believe would happen—again, the change in Amazon’s algorithms was likely the culprit.
After The Toymaker came off the giveaway where it held a #4 ranking for 3 days, it fell briefly out of sight then zoomed quickly back into the Top 100 paid list (at $4.99) and ultimately back into the Top 10 where it stayed (in and out) for nearly 3 days. It stayed in the Top 100 paid for another 3 days then made a steep descent down the rankings before leveling off at a place I wasn’t happy with AT ALL! The Savannah Project never did better than #212 on the paid list after its giveaway was over and after a week its ranking fell off the proverbial cliff.
Sales for May and June were very impressive for The Toymaker and somewhat for The Savannah Project. Subsequent giveaways showed very little in the way of a sustainable bump in sales. The first giveaway only sustained a substantial bump in sales for a week and after 2 weeks—watch out! The drop off in sales is dramatic and depressing. Sure I had great sales for May and very good in June but then…OUCH! Even The Savannah Project, which was steadily increasing up until the giveaway, took a horrific drop in ranking and sales.
So looking around at some of the other independent authors who had had such great success with KDP Select and the giveaways, how are they doing in sales and rankings? Well, it seems there sales did the same thing—an initial slow descent followed by a rapid drop off. Hmmm, how can that be and when did that happen for them.
March 19, 2012—the day that Amazon is believed to have changed their algorithms!
So the John Lockes and the Michael Hickses of this independent publishing world took the same powerful blow, as did those of us with less impressive numbers. Why?
The bigger question I want to ask is this: Why did the traditionally published authors see a substantial increase in their Kindle sales (at a much higher price point I might add) on or about the same date as the independent authors saw the bottom fall out?
Sure there are some independent authors whose sales are still high but they don’t stay there for very long. Could it be that Amazon’s new algorithms favor traditional publishers’ stables of authors over independent authors? Did Amazon cut a behind the scenes deal with the traditional publishers? Certainly gives off that appearance. Amazon doesn’t share this information with anyone so there is no way to prove anything. It wouldn’t be the first time something of this nature has happened. Just take a look at the internal policies of Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million as far as excluding self-published authors books from the shelves. Oh sure, you can get your books in their bookstores but they deliberately made it difficult, anticipating that most of us won’t go to the trouble to jump through all their hoops.
Okay, now I’m done. The cynical, conspiracy theory side of me has spoken.
For the record: I use KDP Select. I made my books available on NOOK and KOBO for a couple of months, hit all the forums and boards, did tons of network marketing, and SOLD NOTHING on either. So back to Amazon and KDP Select where I’ve sold most of my books and know what to expect. Will I do another giveaway? The jury is still out so I can’t give a definitive answer.
Ebooks sell best on Kindle, it’s just that simple. Amazon is still by far the best place for independent authors to sell their ‘e’ and ‘p’ books.
October 1, 2012
Free Bookmarks and Autographed Book Plates
Want to receive bookmarks and/or bookplates for my thriller titles? Send us an email and we’ll mail them to you. E-mail here with your request. When you send your email, don’t forget to tell us very specifically what you want. Which bookmarks and how many of each? How many bookplates? Also, please include your email address in case we have a last-minute question.
1. Autographed book plates. These plates are full-color printed and carry my autograph.
2. Bookmarks. These are printed on heavy weight card stock paper, with two-sided full color printing, and gloss to protect against fingerprints. Available for all my thriller series and my stand-alone suspense novels.
Free Bookmarks and Autographed Book Plates
Want to receive bookmarks and/or bookplates for my thriller titles? Send us an email and we’ll mail them to you. E-mail here with your request. When you send your email, don’t forget to tell us very specifically what you want. Which bookmarks and how many of each? How many bookplates? Also, please include your email address in case we have a last-minute question.
1. Autographed book plates. These plates are full-color printed and carry my autograph.
2. Bookmarks. These are printed on heavy weight card stock paper, with two-sided full color printing, and gloss to protect against fingerprints. Available for all my thriller series and my stand-alone suspense novels.
May 16, 2012
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained—Part 3
It’s the end of the second day, my day anyway, of my experiment with Amazon’s KDP Select giveaway of The Toymaker. So how has it done so far? Let’s take a look…
At the end of yesterday, The Toymaker had been downloaded a little over 12,000 times. So far today (as of 10:00 p.m.) it had been downloaded over 19,000 times. When I shutdown last night, it was ranked at #24. This morning, it was ranked at #10. An hour later, #5. And right now, it’s ranked at #4. The Toymaker stayed ranked at #5 all day.
Counting foreign sales, The Toymaker has been downloaded nearly 20,000 times in less than 2 days. I, for one, thinks that’s awesome. That’s 20,000 more readers who will hopefully, sooner or later, read my book. And potentially buy my other books. Actually, that’s already begun.
The Savannah Project is now ranked at #440 OVERALL. Before this started yesterday, it was ranked at 1639. That’s out of nearly 2 MILLION ebooks in the paid kindle Store!
The big question will be whether or not it pays off after the giveaway is over. Only time will tell.
May 15, 2012
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained. Part 2
So the experiment is under way. I’m checking the free book giveaway with Amazon’s KDP Select program not to see how many books I can give away, but to see if the rankings garnered during the carry over to sales after the 3-day period is over. So what’s happened so far today? Let’s take a look.
I started checking downloads at 6:00 a.m. eastern daylight time (All times will be in EDT) and ended at 10:00 p.m. (five minutes ago).
6:00 a.m.–30 downloads–Amazon rank 19,278 #1 Political Fiction
2:00 p.m.–1351 downloads–Amazon rank 352
5:30 p.m.–3085 downloads–Amazon rank 101
10:00 p.m.–7495 downloads–Amazon rank 47 Still #1 Political Fiction
The important stat is the ranking of #47. Even in the free ebook side of Amazon, a rankings in the Top 100 of all free ebooks is HUGE! Of course, my hope and desire is that The Toymaker will stay there for the duration of the three day period and possibly make it to #1.
There was another added benefit as well…I noticed a marked increase in sales of The Savannah Project. And that’s a good thing too. Some other authors I know did a giveaway on their first book and saw no discernible increase in sales on other books in their series. I think I caught some readers who really want to read the Jake Pendleton series in order, thus they paid for The Savannah Project so they could do just that.
It will interesting to see what happens overnight and I’ll report it tomorrow. It will also be interesting to see what happens to my sales when the giveaway period is over.
Chuck
May 14, 2012
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained–Part 1
A popular saying, even cliche by many standards, but still apropos.
And so the exercise begins. Even though my fellow author encouraged me to do it…I resisted. I watched their sales rise and fall…yet I resisted. I watched some do it with no luck and others with monumental success…and I still resisted.
The hours of research and many more of writing made it unfathomable to giveaway The Toymaker for free to Kindle owners…or anyone for that matter. But I’m going to do it anyway. Starting tomorrow, May 15, 2012, The Toymaker will be free to Kindle owners until the close of business May 17.
THREE DAYS!
So now’s your chance to download The Toymaker at this ridiculously low price of zero. Zilch. Nada. But the offer is good for only 3 days.
Why? Did I hear someone ask why would I do such a silly thing? Numbers. Marketing. Amazon rankings. But mostly, to increase my readership. With the 3rd Jake Pendleton thriller in its final stages of writing, I want as big a following as I can get before the planned Fall 2012 launch.
It you haven’t bought The Toymaker, here’s your chance. And pass this blog link on to any of your friends you think might like to read it. It will be interesting to see what happens to my numbers…I’ll report in daily until this giveaway is over. The results should be interesting!
Click on the titles below….
HAPPY READING!
May 11, 2012
Bye Bye Blackbird—Saying Goodbye To The SR-71
The following is from an email forwarded to me from the REAL Toymaker. It’s kind of long, but if you like aviation and/or history, it’s an interesting read. In the early days of my air traffic control career, I had the pleasure to observe the Blackbird fly through our area. It was always a treat, and always a secret. And man, could it haul ass across the Gulf of Mexico!
Bye Bye Blackbird, have you any spies?
Yes sir, yes sir, we have them in the skies.
——————————————————-
BYE BYE SR-71 BLACKBIRD
FROM AN SR-71 PILOT … A very interesting read …
In April 1986, following an attack on American soldiers in a Berlin disco, President Reagan ordered the bombing of Muammar Qaddafi’s terrorist camps in Libya ..
My duty was to fly over Libya, and take photographs recording the damage our F-111′s had inflicted.
Qaddafi had established a ‘line of death,’ a territorial marking across the Gulf of Sidra, swearing to shoot down any intruder, that crossed the boundary.
On the morning of April 15, I rocketed past the line at 2,125 mph.
I was piloting the SR-71 spy plane, the worlds fastest jet, accompanied by a Marine major, (Walt) the aircraft’s reconnaissance systems officer (RSO).
We had crossed into Libya, and were approaching our final turn over the bleak desert landscape, when
Walt informed me, that he was receiving missile launch signals.
I quickly increased our speed, calculating the time it would take for the weapons, most likely SA-2 and SA-4 surface-to-air missiles, capable of Mach 5 – to reach our altitude.
I estimated, that we could beat the rocket-powered missiles to the turn, and stayed our course, betting our lives on the plane’s performance.
After several agonizingly long seconds, we made the turn and blasted toward the Mediterranean …
‘You might want to pull it back,’ Walt suggested.
It was then that I noticed I still had the throttles full forward.
The plane was flying a mile every 1.6 seconds, well above our Mach 3.2 limit.
It was the fastest we would ever fly.
I pulled the throttles to idle, just south of Sicily, but we still overran the refueling tanker, awaiting us over Gibraltar …
Scores of significant aircraft have been produced, in the 100 years of flight, following the achievements of the Wright brothers, which we celebrate in December.
Aircraft such as the Boeing 707, the F-86 Sabre Jet, and the P-51 Mustang, are among the important machines, that have flown our skies.
But the SR-71, also known as the Blackbird, stands alone as a significant contributor to Cold War victory, and as the fastest plane ever, and only 93 Air Force pilots, ever steered the ‘sled,’ as we called our aircraft.
The SR-71, was the brainchild of Kelly Johnson, the famed Lockheed designer, who created the P-38, the F-104 Starfighter, and the U-2.
After the Soviets shot down Gary Powers U-2 in 1960, Johnson began to develop an aircraft, that would fly three miles higher, and five times faster, than the spy plane, and still be capable of photographing your license plate.
However, flying at 2,000 mph would create intense heat on the aircraft’s skin.
Lockheed engineers used a titanium alloy, to construct more than 90 percent of the SR-71, creating special tools, and manufacturing procedures to hand-build each of the (40 planes.. Wow!! 40 planes?? I thought only 7.)
Special heat-resistant fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluids, that would function at 85,000 feet, and higher, also had to be developed.
In 1962, the first Blackbird successfully flew, and in 1966, the same year I graduated from high school, the Air Force began flying operational SR-71 missions.
I came to the program in 1983, with a sterling record and a recommendation from my commander, completing the weeklong interview, and meeting Walt, my partner for the next four years.
He would ride four feet behind me, working all the cameras, radios, and electronic jamming equipment.
I joked, that if we were ever captured, he was the spy, and I was just the driver.
He told me to keep the pointy end forward.
We trained for a year, flying out of Beale AFB in California, Kadena Airbase in Okinawa, and RAF Mildenhall in England.
On a typical training mission, we would take off near Sacramento, refuel over Nevada, accelerate into Montana, obtain a high Mach speed over Colorado, turn right over New Mexico, speed across the Los Angeles Basin, run up the West Coast, turn right at Seattle, then return to Beale.
Total flight time – Two Hours and Forty Minutes.
One day, high above Arizona, we were monitoring the radio traffic, of all the mortal airplanes below us.
First, a Cessna pilot asked the air traffic controllers to check his ground speed. ‘Ninety knots,’ ATC replied.
A Bonanza soon made the same request.
‘One-twenty on the ground,’ was the reply.
To our surprise, a navy F-18 came over the radio, with a ground speed check.
I knew exactly what he was doing.
Of course, he had a ground speed indicator in his cockpit, but he wanted to let all the bug-smashers in the valley, know what real speed was. ‘Dusty 52, we show you at 620 on the ground,’ ATC responded.
The situation was too ripe.
I heard the click of Walt’s mike button in the rear seat.
In his most innocent voice, Walt startled the controller by asking for a ground speed check from 81,000 feet, clearly above controlled airspace.
In a cool, professional voice, the controller replied, ‘Aspen 20, I show you at 1,982 knots on the ground.’
We did not hear another transmission on that frequency, all the way to the coast.
The Blackbird always showed us something new, each aircraft possessing its own unique personality.
In time, we realized we were flying a national treasure.
When we taxied out of our revetments for take-off, people took notice.
Traffic congregated near the airfield fences, because everyone wanted to see, and hear the mighty SR-71.
You could not be a part of this program, and not come to love the airplane.
Slowly, she revealed her secrets to us, as we earned her trust.
One moonless night, while flying a routine training mission over the Pacific, I wondered what the sky would look like from 84,000 feet, if the cockpit lighting were dark.
While heading home on a straight course, I slowly turned down all of the lighting, reducing the glare and revealing the night sky.
Within seconds, I turned the lights back up, fearful that the jet would know, and somehow punish me.
But my desire to see the sky, overruled my caution, I dimmed the lighting again.
To my amazement, I saw a bright light outside my window.
As my eyes adjusted to the view, I realized that the brilliance was the broad expanse of the Milky Way, now a gleaming stripe across the sky.
Where dark spaces in the sky, had usually existed, there were now dense clusters, of sparkling stars.
Shooting Stars, flashed across the canvas every few seconds.
It was like a fireworks display with no sound.
I knew I had to get my eyes back on the instruments, and reluctantly, I brought my attention back inside.
To my surprise, with the cockpit lighting still off, I could see every gauge, lit by starlight.
In the plane’s mirrors, I could see the eerie shine of my gold spacesuit, incandescently illuminated, in a celestial glow.
I stole one last glance out the window.
Despite our speed, we seemed still before the heavens, humbled in the radiance of a much greater power.
For those few moments, I felt a part of something far more significant, than anything we were doing in the plane.
The sharp sound of Walt’s voice on the radio, brought me back to the tasks at hand, as I prepared for our descent.
The SR-71 was an expensive aircraft to operate.
The most significant cost was tanker support, and in 1990, confronted with budget cutbacks, the Air Force retired the SR-71.
The SR-71 served six presidents, protecting America for a quarter of a century.
Unbeknown to most of the country, the plane flew over North Vietnam, Red China, North Korea, the Middle East, South Africa, Cuba, Nicaragua, Iran, Libya, and the Falkland Islands.
On a weekly basis, the SR-71, kept watch over every Soviet Nuclear Submarine, Mobile Missile Site, and all of their troop movements.
It was a key factor in winning the Cold War.
I am proud to say, I flew about 500 hours in this aircraft.
I knew her well.
She gave way to no plane, proudly dragging her Sonic Boom through enemy backyards, with great impunity.
She defeated every missile, outran every MIG, and always brought us home.
In the first 100 years of manned flight, no aircraft was more remarkable.
The Blackbird had outrun nearly 4,000 missiles, not once taking a scratch from enemy fire.
On her final flight, the Blackbird, destined for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, sped from Los Angeles to Washington in 64 Minutes, averaging 2,145 mph, and setting four speed records.
——————————————————-
May 7, 2012
LOVE IS MURDER!
LOVE IS MURDER, edited by Sandra Brown, is the latest showcase from the tremendous talent of the members of International Thriller Writers: from Lee Child and Heather Graham, to Allison Brennan and Sherrilyn Kenyon, the stories in this anthology will appeal to any thriller reader.
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LOVE IS MURDER is so important to International Thriller Writers because the sale of anthologies is the main way our organization raises money.
http://www.thebigthrill.org/love-is-murder/
REVIEWS:
Publishers Weekly:
★Thriller 3: Love Is Murder
Edited by Sandra Brown. Mira, $24.95 (608p) ISBN 978-0-7783-1344-1
If a person is known by the company she keeps, then the company of the 30 romance and suspense writers in this stellar all-original anthology speaks volumes about bestseller Brown. From Lori Armstrong’s sexy “Holding Mercy” to Vicki Hinze’s sweet “Wed to Death,” there’s romance aplenty. But there’s also loads of suspense, including Lee Child’s “I Heard a Romantic Story” and Cindy Gerard’s “Dying to Score.” Hankering for a flight of romantic fantasy? Take a trip to a bizarre Savannah neighborhood in Dianna Love’s “Deadly Fixation” or to the Chicago of Patricia Rosemoor’s “Hot Note.” The action spans the globe, imparting a real feel for locales as diverse as the Mexican jungle; Halifax, Nova Scotia; London, England; and south Texas. There are familiar characters such as Allison Brennan’s Lucy Kincaid (“Vacation Interrupted”) and new ones readers are sure to want to see more of, like William Simon’s Nicholas White (“Spider’s Tango”). Chockablock with nifty plot twists, these stories aren’t to be missed. (June) Publishers Weekly
Booklist:
Romantic-suspense star Brown (Lethal, 2011) celebrates the genre’s vitality with a wonderfully diverse and exciting collection of short stories by 30 writers both well known and emerging. From Roxanne St. Claire’s erotic opening story, “Diamond Drop,” to Lee Child’s splendid “I Heard a Romantic Story,” Brown’s selections cover the spectrum from sexy to scary with surprising and compelling tales about stalkers and cops, private eyes and serial killers, bodyguards and thieves. The authors include Lori Armstrong, William Bernhardt, Bill Floyd, Heather Graham, Vicki Hinze, Andrea Kane, Sherrilyn Kenyon, James Macomber, Carla Neggers, Brenda Novak, William Simon, and Mariah Stewart. With this stellar group, readers can enjoy a story by a favorite author and discover new talent. Brown has made sure that there is something here for everyone. — Shelley Mosley Booklist
_______________________
These anthologies are awesome reads. Entertaining yet suspenseful. I buy them each year and I highly recommend them to all my readers. Preorder your copy today. Here’s the link again.
http://www.thebigthrill.org/love-is-murder/
Chuck
LOVE IS MURDER!
LOVE IS MURDER, edited by Sandra Brown, is the latest showcase from the tremendous talent of the members of International Thriller Writers: from Lee Child and Heather Graham, to Allison Brennan and Sherrilyn Kenyon, the stories in this anthology will appeal to any thriller reader.
[image error]
LOVE IS MURDER is so important to International Thriller Writers because the sale of anthologies is the main way our organization raises money.
http://www.thebigthrill.org/love-is-murder/
REVIEWS:
Publishers Weekly:
★Thriller 3: Love Is Murder
Edited by Sandra Brown. Mira, $24.95 (608p) ISBN 978-0-7783-1344-1
If a person is known by the company she keeps, then the company of the 30 romance and suspense writers in this stellar all-original anthology speaks volumes about bestseller Brown. From Lori Armstrong’s sexy “Holding Mercy” to Vicki Hinze’s sweet “Wed to Death,” there’s romance aplenty. But there’s also loads of suspense, including Lee Child’s “I Heard a Romantic Story” and Cindy Gerard’s “Dying to Score.” Hankering for a flight of romantic fantasy? Take a trip to a bizarre Savannah neighborhood in Dianna Love’s “Deadly Fixation” or to the Chicago of Patricia Rosemoor’s “Hot Note.” The action spans the globe, imparting a real feel for locales as diverse as the Mexican jungle; Halifax, Nova Scotia; London, England; and south Texas. There are familiar characters such as Allison Brennan’s Lucy Kincaid (“Vacation Interrupted”) and new ones readers are sure to want to see more of, like William Simon’s Nicholas White (“Spider’s Tango”). Chockablock with nifty plot twists, these stories aren’t to be missed. (June) Publishers Weekly
Booklist:
Romantic-suspense star Brown (Lethal, 2011) celebrates the genre’s vitality with a wonderfully diverse and exciting collection of short stories by 30 writers both well known and emerging. From Roxanne St. Claire’s erotic opening story, “Diamond Drop,” to Lee Child’s splendid “I Heard a Romantic Story,” Brown’s selections cover the spectrum from sexy to scary with surprising and compelling tales about stalkers and cops, private eyes and serial killers, bodyguards and thieves. The authors include Lori Armstrong, William Bernhardt, Bill Floyd, Heather Graham, Vicki Hinze, Andrea Kane, Sherrilyn Kenyon, James Macomber, Carla Neggers, Brenda Novak, William Simon, and Mariah Stewart. With this stellar group, readers can enjoy a story by a favorite author and discover new talent. Brown has made sure that there is something here for everyone. — Shelley Mosley Booklist
_______________________
These anthologies are awesome reads. Entertaining yet suspenseful. I buy them each year and I highly recommend them to all my readers. Preorder your copy today. Here’s the link again.
http://www.thebigthrill.org/love-is-murder/
Chuck
January 6, 2012
8 RULES FOR SUCCESSFUL WRITING
I originally wrote this as “A writer’s guide to New Year’s resolutions.” The intent was to help kick-start the new year off right, but I realized from comments and emails received that these guidelines hold true regardless of when you start writing. So, this is most of the original post with a little extra thrown in for good measure. But it is still all about setting, AND KEEPING, those goals to make you a better, more successful writer.
What resolutions did you make about your writing habits, your goals, or that novel to beat all novels that is locked away in your head?
Needless to say, most writers don’t make resolutions for the upcoming year in the writing life—only their personal life. Why? Or maybe the question should be, why not? What we want to accomplish in the upcoming year doesn’t seem resolution material, right? Well, if you’re serious about writing, you couldn’t be more wrong.
If you have to, make two sets of resolutions…personal goals and writing goals. Resolutions are made with the best of intentions but it’s your own self-discipline and drive that determines whether you reach that goal or not. So let’s take a look at some resolutions for the writing part of your life.
Set realistic goals. Sounds easy, right. If one of your resolutions was to start, finish, edit, secure an agent, sell to a publisher, and see it in print all in a year…then your goal was unrealistic and your resolution a failure because it is highly unlikely to do all that in one year through traditional publishing. BUT, and it’s a big but, you choose a self-publishing method…it is an attainable goal. And it requires a lot of hard work and discipline.
Resolve to write something everyday. Remember, I said ‘something.’ It doesn’t have to be your work-in-progress…even though that would be preferable it isn’t always possible. Write something: a blog, a newsletter, a letter to yourself reminding you of your goals and strategies…anything, just write.
Limit your time on social media! One of the biggest time consumers is social media. Don’t get me wrong; staying connected is a must in today’s world if you want to get noticed. But if you let it, it will consume your day and thwart your best laid plans for constructively writing that novel. (If you don’t write fiction, insert non-fiction WIP) In one of my previous blog posts I wrote about having no time to write, if you don’t structure your day, you’ll inevitably get behind.
Structure your writing day. You knew that was coming next, didn’t you. Set aside a limited amount of time each day for social media, networking, marketing, and promotion. There is a certain amount of business that must be attended to daily. Do it and get back to writing.
Take advantage of your “creative moments.” You’re an author, you have them. When you have them, WRITE! The average author has 5 – 6 creative hours a day. You know when they are, so take advantage of that creativity and write. Structure you writing days around your creativity. You don’t need to be tweeting, or Facebooking, or promoting, or anything other than writing when that creative side of your brain turns on.
Read more. Sound simple? Reading takes time out of your day. Time you probably are already thinking you don’t have any more of. Find the time. Read what you write. Find the great authors in your genre and read how they structure a story and their style. Then read a bad author in your genre and do the same thing. You can learn just as much, if not more, from reading bad writing as your can from reading good writing. Broaden your horizons…read something outside your genre from time to time. Maybe you’re an ex-NFL linebacker who will only write action thrillers, but you might just like that romance novel. Okay, so I got carried away…but you get my drift. Other genres open our eyes and can make us better author in our own genre.
Be your own worst critic. Read your own work with a critical eye. At first, it sounds great. Then it sounds lame and you think it isn’t good enough for the trash receptacle. After you finish your manuscript, put it away for at least two weeks. During that period, just read. Then pick it back up and read it again with fresh eyes and notice the difference. The good and the bad will jump off the page. Keep the good, fix the bad, and put it away. Two weeks later, repeat the same process. Now you’re ready to move forward. Two books I’ll recommend here that every author should have on their shelves–The Successful Novelist by David Morrell and Self-Editing For Fiction Writers by Browne and King. If you don’t have them, I strongly encourage you to get them, read them, and learn from them.
Last item…don’t rule out self-publishing. Who really knows what’s going on in the publishing industry today? One thing is certain, though, the traditional publishers are still standing around, scratching their heads, wondering how all these self-published authors are selling so many books. With a good plan, you too can make an impact by self-publishing.
This list is anything but comprehensive but it should give you a good kick-start toward your own list of resolutions for the upcoming year. Please feel free to add resolutions by leaving comments and sharing them with others. But by all means…KEEP WRITING!
Chuck Barrett
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