Shamon Harper's Blog, page 3
February 12, 2025
Happy July Dammit!
Happy July Dammit!
Well, here we are. This has actually been a pretty productive month as far as writing goes. I have mentioned in the past that I am just a dude trying to figure this whole writing thing out. At this point, I am very close to being finished with the first draft.
Would I show anyone my first draft?
Hell no!
But, as I sit this afternoon around June 20, 2024 I am about three thousand words, give or take a few, from being finished with it. I feel like that is a major accomplishment, at least for me it is. My goal has been at least sixty thousand words for this first novel. I am just over fifty-seven thousand and the story is winding down. It feels like it is going to come in around sixty so that works for me.
I have really enjoyed this project. The journey of learning all of the stuff that goes into something like this and then creating something has been really cool and challenging. It has really filled a lot of my not-so-free time this year.
While I have started to bring this thing down for a landing, it has launched the next phase. What would that be you may ask?
Well, I am talking about editing.
Everything I have researched has put editing as super important. Basically in the process of writing a novel, the actual writing is the first quarter of the overall work, editing is the next two quarters or half the work, and then marketing is the last quarter of the overall work.
If that is true, I have a lot of work to do…
Should I get someone else to edit it?
Well, yeah I probably should, but what is the fun in that? I have a good friend who says her family motto is something along the lines of “Why would we do something the easy way when there is a much more difficult and cheaper way to do it.” I chuckle every time she says it.
Anyway, the issue with getting someone else to edit this story is that I wouldn’t learn how to do it that way. This entire project has been about being creative and learning how to do this. So why would I stop now?
So, as the story winds down, there has been a deep dive into the practice of editing. More specifically self-editing. I am really fascinated with the concept of editing this story and seeing how it changes it. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse and start doing that before the story is done, but I am excited about diving in.
So let's talk about how this works in function. I think I am going to edit in a few phases.
Phase one is Developmental Editing. This type of editing takes a broad strokes look at the overall structure of the manuscript.
Phase two is Structural Editing. Like developmental editing, structural editing takes a broad look at the structure of your manuscript. Structure and flow go hand-in-hand and are kind of hard to pin down. And every book (both fiction and nonfiction) needs a good flow to pull the readers along, either entertaining or providing information.
Phase three is Copy Editing. Copy editing isn’t concerned with stylistic choices; It’s looking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes.
Somewhere in this process either before or after will be beta-readers. Beta-readers take a look at your story and provide feedback.
Also, it is not so clear what order all of this is supposed to take place depending on who’s input I am looking at for it. Some say to start with beta-readers and let that guide some of the developmental editing. Some say start with copy editing so your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are on point before you allow anyone else to look over it.
Where will I land? I don’t know yet, but I am enjoying the process of researching it.
Another big key to self-editing is looking at your manuscript with fresh eyes. You are supposed to put your manuscript down for a bit and walk away from it. That way when you come back to it you have fresh eyes to look it over and don’t feel so close to it.
Anyway, I hope your July is awesome!
Summer is here… but honestly, I live in Tampa, Florida and summer never really goes away.
Shamon
Well, here we are. This has actually been a pretty productive month as far as writing goes. I have mentioned in the past that I am just a dude trying to figure this whole writing thing out. At this point, I am very close to being finished with the first draft.
Would I show anyone my first draft?
Hell no!
But, as I sit this afternoon around June 20, 2024 I am about three thousand words, give or take a few, from being finished with it. I feel like that is a major accomplishment, at least for me it is. My goal has been at least sixty thousand words for this first novel. I am just over fifty-seven thousand and the story is winding down. It feels like it is going to come in around sixty so that works for me.
I have really enjoyed this project. The journey of learning all of the stuff that goes into something like this and then creating something has been really cool and challenging. It has really filled a lot of my not-so-free time this year.
While I have started to bring this thing down for a landing, it has launched the next phase. What would that be you may ask?
Well, I am talking about editing.
Everything I have researched has put editing as super important. Basically in the process of writing a novel, the actual writing is the first quarter of the overall work, editing is the next two quarters or half the work, and then marketing is the last quarter of the overall work.
If that is true, I have a lot of work to do…
Should I get someone else to edit it?
Well, yeah I probably should, but what is the fun in that? I have a good friend who says her family motto is something along the lines of “Why would we do something the easy way when there is a much more difficult and cheaper way to do it.” I chuckle every time she says it.
Anyway, the issue with getting someone else to edit this story is that I wouldn’t learn how to do it that way. This entire project has been about being creative and learning how to do this. So why would I stop now?
So, as the story winds down, there has been a deep dive into the practice of editing. More specifically self-editing. I am really fascinated with the concept of editing this story and seeing how it changes it. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse and start doing that before the story is done, but I am excited about diving in.
So let's talk about how this works in function. I think I am going to edit in a few phases.
Phase one is Developmental Editing. This type of editing takes a broad strokes look at the overall structure of the manuscript.
Phase two is Structural Editing. Like developmental editing, structural editing takes a broad look at the structure of your manuscript. Structure and flow go hand-in-hand and are kind of hard to pin down. And every book (both fiction and nonfiction) needs a good flow to pull the readers along, either entertaining or providing information.
Phase three is Copy Editing. Copy editing isn’t concerned with stylistic choices; It’s looking for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes.
Somewhere in this process either before or after will be beta-readers. Beta-readers take a look at your story and provide feedback.
Also, it is not so clear what order all of this is supposed to take place depending on who’s input I am looking at for it. Some say to start with beta-readers and let that guide some of the developmental editing. Some say start with copy editing so your spelling, grammar, and punctuation are on point before you allow anyone else to look over it.
Where will I land? I don’t know yet, but I am enjoying the process of researching it.
Another big key to self-editing is looking at your manuscript with fresh eyes. You are supposed to put your manuscript down for a bit and walk away from it. That way when you come back to it you have fresh eyes to look it over and don’t feel so close to it.
Anyway, I hope your July is awesome!
Summer is here… but honestly, I live in Tampa, Florida and summer never really goes away.
Shamon
February 5, 2025
I Hate How Long This Process Is Taking
Well, here we are. Another month has gone by and I have still not finished the book.
This pisses me off to no end.
Time is not my ally.
I am starting to really see how my self-imposed deadline to finish this book before the end of May is not happening. I had grand plans of writing two books in my series before the end of this year, and who knows, maybe that will still happen… Who am I kidding…
Anyway, this last month has been busy. We recently went on a trip to Denver, Colorado, and that allowed me to spend a couple of days writing. It was great.
I am well into the draft of Act 3 and I know how the story is going to end. That feels a bit crazy. I had a rough outline from the beginning, but it is interesting to see it continually get dialed in as the story develops. I am just hoping it is not a pile of shit when it is done. That fear has been creeping in lately. There is certainly a bit of vulnerability in all of this writing stuff.
Writing is so much fun when I get into the flow. I don’t know how to explain it, but I have noticed a pattern for how I can get myself into it when I sit down at the keyboard. Since I don’t write every day I have to spend a bit of time getting myself back on track.
It flows like this…
I start by looking at my ever-evolving outline. This helps orient me to where I am in the overall story and what waypoints I need to get to. Then I pick up the current draft and read over the last few sections. This puts me back into the place. It really helps me to just start channeling what happens next and get it on the page. Sometimes I feel like a conduit of what is coming out, sometimes I feel like I am forcing it a bit. When I start to feel like I am forcing it too much I typically walk away for a while and come back to it. Things often loosen up then and I can write a little.
Like I said earlier, time is not my ally. I wanted to be so much further along than I am, but it is what it is. I am very happy with what I have created so far, and love learning all of this. I love the art of it all.
So let’s talk about the story a little bit. Right now the working title is Humanity Shattered Book 1, I know it sucks, and it will evolve into something better. I wanted to finish the first draft before I titled it. I have been researching an entire methodology for creating titles for books in a series like this. It’s a whole thing. There are entire deep dives I have taken into the best way to title a book that will make it searchable and relevant for people who enjoy the genre.
The story picks up after the events of VEHO: A BACKSTORY. I talked about the creation of that in my last newsletter. The main characters are not the same, but the events of VEHO lead to the introduction of the main characters for the book. The story focuses on a military special forces team that is sent to the WO 9127 Solar System in the deep reaches of the galaxy to investigate the fallout from the events of VEHO. All communications and traffic from the system seemed to have stopped and it's time to figure out what is going on in there. I don’t know that I want to say too much more about it right now, but I posted the sales copy a while back and will include it here again…
A Special Operations team is sent to check out the loss of communication to an entire solar system. What they discover will change everything…
Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO) Jackson has built a life on keeping his team safe.
Can Jackson protect his chosen family as they give it their all to save humanity? Can he lead his team through the end of all that he and everyone else has ever known?
Join the hair-raising adventure of a lifetime as Shamon takes you to a future where the vastness of space can bring anything… and it is all wrapped up in the horror of the collapse of civilization.
So there it is, would you buy this book?
Shamon
This pisses me off to no end.
Time is not my ally.
I am starting to really see how my self-imposed deadline to finish this book before the end of May is not happening. I had grand plans of writing two books in my series before the end of this year, and who knows, maybe that will still happen… Who am I kidding…
Anyway, this last month has been busy. We recently went on a trip to Denver, Colorado, and that allowed me to spend a couple of days writing. It was great.
I am well into the draft of Act 3 and I know how the story is going to end. That feels a bit crazy. I had a rough outline from the beginning, but it is interesting to see it continually get dialed in as the story develops. I am just hoping it is not a pile of shit when it is done. That fear has been creeping in lately. There is certainly a bit of vulnerability in all of this writing stuff.
Writing is so much fun when I get into the flow. I don’t know how to explain it, but I have noticed a pattern for how I can get myself into it when I sit down at the keyboard. Since I don’t write every day I have to spend a bit of time getting myself back on track.
It flows like this…
I start by looking at my ever-evolving outline. This helps orient me to where I am in the overall story and what waypoints I need to get to. Then I pick up the current draft and read over the last few sections. This puts me back into the place. It really helps me to just start channeling what happens next and get it on the page. Sometimes I feel like a conduit of what is coming out, sometimes I feel like I am forcing it a bit. When I start to feel like I am forcing it too much I typically walk away for a while and come back to it. Things often loosen up then and I can write a little.
Like I said earlier, time is not my ally. I wanted to be so much further along than I am, but it is what it is. I am very happy with what I have created so far, and love learning all of this. I love the art of it all.
So let’s talk about the story a little bit. Right now the working title is Humanity Shattered Book 1, I know it sucks, and it will evolve into something better. I wanted to finish the first draft before I titled it. I have been researching an entire methodology for creating titles for books in a series like this. It’s a whole thing. There are entire deep dives I have taken into the best way to title a book that will make it searchable and relevant for people who enjoy the genre.
The story picks up after the events of VEHO: A BACKSTORY. I talked about the creation of that in my last newsletter. The main characters are not the same, but the events of VEHO lead to the introduction of the main characters for the book. The story focuses on a military special forces team that is sent to the WO 9127 Solar System in the deep reaches of the galaxy to investigate the fallout from the events of VEHO. All communications and traffic from the system seemed to have stopped and it's time to figure out what is going on in there. I don’t know that I want to say too much more about it right now, but I posted the sales copy a while back and will include it here again…
A Special Operations team is sent to check out the loss of communication to an entire solar system. What they discover will change everything…
Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO) Jackson has built a life on keeping his team safe.
Can Jackson protect his chosen family as they give it their all to save humanity? Can he lead his team through the end of all that he and everyone else has ever known?
Join the hair-raising adventure of a lifetime as Shamon takes you to a future where the vastness of space can bring anything… and it is all wrapped up in the horror of the collapse of civilization.
So there it is, would you buy this book?
Shamon
February 2, 2025
Sneak Peek and Editing!
Hello There!
So it’s been a hectic month. It's hectic in a good way though. I have working a lot on the book editing this month. I really got a ton of work done in that area. I think I will be finished with that portion very soon. The editing process has pushed me to make some major changes to the story. While doing some editing research I came across an article by Christopher Tolkien, the son of Author J.R.R. Tolkien discussing his father’s editing process. J.R.R. Tolkien’s editing process never actually ended. I find this very relatable and very interesting. He edited most of his work, and later his son Christopher edited much of the work released posthumously.
J.R.R. Tolkien couldn’t afford to pay for an editor or a typesetter for his work so he did most of that himself to save the money. This led him to continue editing the work almost every time a new edition or special edition was released. You can trace many of the changes in Lord of The Rings by reading different editions of the work. As he would expand the overall universe of Middle-Earth and its lore, he would incorporate many of those concepts into later versions of the Lord of the Ring’s ever-evolving manuscript. Early editions of the Lord of The Rings are vastly different than later versions. While the main points of the story never changed, the story as a whole evolved to be richer in lore and backstory. He considered the work living and ever-evolving, but I am guessing there was a huge amount of perfectionism on his part involved.
This whole construct seemed to crazy to me until I started massaging my own story and molding it to be something better than I started with. I almost understand what that feels like when I look over a chapter and see how it fits relative to the previous chapters and chapters to come. It takes me through a process of how do I make this pacing flow better?, or How do I really like how this is being said here? I start to get a sense of the story never really being complete, much like Tolkien discussed. It has also brought a whole new meaning to the idea that a “manuscript is never finished, it is only abandoned by the author.”
So what does all this mean? Well, after a bit of overwhelm, thinking of all the stuff I have to do in order to get this story out into the world, I came to the conclusion that the story has to be finished first. That seems pretty rudimentary on the surface level as I type that out, but I was starting to get the cart before the horse a bit and really dig into the marketing process. Right now the focus is singular. Finish the editing and get the book into the hands of some beta readers. Right now that is all I am focusing on. That helped me to really circle the wagons in January and get a lot of the editing done. I am getting very close on that front.
Where does it go from here? After the editing, I will be sending it to a few trusted beta readers for feedback. Once I get some feedback I will see where that fits and make any adjustments that I feel are necessary.
After the editing is finished I will be setting up a new lead magnet for my marketing plan. I already have that pretty much ready to go. It’s the first bit of the book, a backstory if you will that sets up the lead character. The short story VEHO will be disappearing from my lead magnet and I will be shifting toward the book. VEHO will continue to be available on Amazon.
You all are getting a sneak peek of that new lead magnet. If you want to read it, click on the button below. The graphic was created when I fed the short story into ChatGPT and asked it to create a graphic of the scene of the story. I was pretty impressed with what it returned.
DEAD STATION A MILITARY ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE SPACE OPERA - PREAMBLE
May 1, 2024
I Have Been Head Down Writing Lately
Developing a routine to write when you have so much going on in your life is pretty tough sometimes. I have pretty much settled on writing a little during the weekend and Monday nights. My goal is to get at least a few thousand words done each week (I shoot for four thousand). It seems to be what I can manage these days. Some weekends are really productive with me actually surpassing that goal, and some are not. I try hard to keep it in its place.
I feel like the first draft is coming along pretty well. I have finished the first two acts in the three-act format and am well on my way to the third act. I got a little lost when I started the third act, so I had to stop for a bit and get my bearings. This required me to revisit my outline. I find when I get a little lost I go back to the outline and give it a little more detail. This really helps me in my process of getting from one place to another.
I have also finished my laboratory testing with the short story VEHO: A BACKSTORY. What does that mean? Good question…
VEHO: A BACKSTORY was pretty much a means to an end. It was wildly fun to write, but it really served multiple purposes.
First, I wanted to see if I could write an interesting story. I hope you found VEHO interesting…
Second, you can’t set up an Amazon Author Profile without already having a book. I wasn’t willing to spend all this time not having some foundation work laid out. VEHO was that book. It was fun to write and short.
Third, I needed to understand how to create a cover for a book. I used some AI art generation and Canva to create the cover for VEHO. I was pretty happy with how well that came out. Years ago, I went to school for graphic design, so I have a general idea of how to do this kind of work.
Fourth, I was in the process of trying to understand how to do some testing through Facebook ads. I wanted to test two aspects of things for VEHO, could I sell it and could I use Facebook ads for feedback testing? The answer to both was yes. I used it on feedback testing to figure out which cover version to use for VEHO. I simply used two identical ads with different graphics to see which one garnered the most interest. The cover with the ship won by a huge margin, so I went with that. Once that was decided I ran ads for the story to see if I could sell it. This was also a success. The story was sold very cheap, so it wasn’t about making money, but rather seeing if I could get enough interest in the story to sell it using Facebook ads.
Fifth, The whole point of VEHO was to create something to basically give away in order to garner interest in the work I have been doing on the book. In marketing terms that is called a leads magnet. What can I give to people who will be interested in joining my mailing list? Why not give them my work, VEHO…
Sixth, I wanted a story to put through the audible process so I could understand what that world looked like. Again, VEHO was the answer! It was a pretty cheap investment to understand how the Amazon Audible world works.
I can’t be thankful enough for that little story! It helped me so much in navigating this whole process. I now feel like I have a foundation to build on and something more than just throwing a story out into the world with no direction.
I will also say that initially VEHO: A BACKSTORY was going to be the start of my book. I think that has mostly changed now, It feels more like a stand-alone project at this point. I have written a new beginning of the book, and VEHO has become supporting material for the universe that will be Humanity Shattered. Don’t worry, you will find out what happened to Samantha.
Shamon
I feel like the first draft is coming along pretty well. I have finished the first two acts in the three-act format and am well on my way to the third act. I got a little lost when I started the third act, so I had to stop for a bit and get my bearings. This required me to revisit my outline. I find when I get a little lost I go back to the outline and give it a little more detail. This really helps me in my process of getting from one place to another.
I have also finished my laboratory testing with the short story VEHO: A BACKSTORY. What does that mean? Good question…
VEHO: A BACKSTORY was pretty much a means to an end. It was wildly fun to write, but it really served multiple purposes.
First, I wanted to see if I could write an interesting story. I hope you found VEHO interesting…
Second, you can’t set up an Amazon Author Profile without already having a book. I wasn’t willing to spend all this time not having some foundation work laid out. VEHO was that book. It was fun to write and short.
Third, I needed to understand how to create a cover for a book. I used some AI art generation and Canva to create the cover for VEHO. I was pretty happy with how well that came out. Years ago, I went to school for graphic design, so I have a general idea of how to do this kind of work.
Fourth, I was in the process of trying to understand how to do some testing through Facebook ads. I wanted to test two aspects of things for VEHO, could I sell it and could I use Facebook ads for feedback testing? The answer to both was yes. I used it on feedback testing to figure out which cover version to use for VEHO. I simply used two identical ads with different graphics to see which one garnered the most interest. The cover with the ship won by a huge margin, so I went with that. Once that was decided I ran ads for the story to see if I could sell it. This was also a success. The story was sold very cheap, so it wasn’t about making money, but rather seeing if I could get enough interest in the story to sell it using Facebook ads.
Fifth, The whole point of VEHO was to create something to basically give away in order to garner interest in the work I have been doing on the book. In marketing terms that is called a leads magnet. What can I give to people who will be interested in joining my mailing list? Why not give them my work, VEHO…
Sixth, I wanted a story to put through the audible process so I could understand what that world looked like. Again, VEHO was the answer! It was a pretty cheap investment to understand how the Amazon Audible world works.
I can’t be thankful enough for that little story! It helped me so much in navigating this whole process. I now feel like I have a foundation to build on and something more than just throwing a story out into the world with no direction.
I will also say that initially VEHO: A BACKSTORY was going to be the start of my book. I think that has mostly changed now, It feels more like a stand-alone project at this point. I have written a new beginning of the book, and VEHO has become supporting material for the universe that will be Humanity Shattered. Don’t worry, you will find out what happened to Samantha.
Shamon
April 14, 2024
Back To Writing!
Back to Writing
I have been spending a lot of time lately working on structure for the business of writing a book. There is so much that goes into writing a book, and there seems to be so much more that goes into setting that book up to actually sell somewhere.
It boggles the mind.
I have done a ton of research on setting up a site, creating a newsletter, setting up that newsletter so people can sign up, the actual stuff that has to happen to sell a book.
All this has taken me away from actually writing the book, and that seems kind of comical to me.
Now that I have some of that framework in place it's back to actually writing, which I enjoy. One of the big things I have been working on that is both for the book and for the selling of the book is what is called the sales copy. The sales copy is the bit that goes on the back of the book After a bunch of research it seems that the prevailing wisdom is to write that before you even write the book. Shit, I didn’t do that exactly right I guess, but I am nowhere near done with the book and I guess there is no time like the present. So, I found a bit of a guiding method for the sales copy. It is still a work in progress, but here is what I have so far. It will probably change, but might as well throw it out there.
A Special Operations team is sent to check out the loss of communication to an entire solar system. What they discover will change everything…
Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO) Jackson has built a life on keeping his team safe.
Can Jackson protect his chosen family as they give it their all to save humanity? Can he lead his team through the end of all that he and everyone else has ever known?
Join the hair-raising adventure of a lifetime as Shamon takes you to a future where the vastness of space can bring anything… and it is all wrapped up in the horror of the collapse of civilization.
So there it is, would you buy this book?
Shamon
I have been spending a lot of time lately working on structure for the business of writing a book. There is so much that goes into writing a book, and there seems to be so much more that goes into setting that book up to actually sell somewhere.
It boggles the mind.
I have done a ton of research on setting up a site, creating a newsletter, setting up that newsletter so people can sign up, the actual stuff that has to happen to sell a book.
All this has taken me away from actually writing the book, and that seems kind of comical to me.
Now that I have some of that framework in place it's back to actually writing, which I enjoy. One of the big things I have been working on that is both for the book and for the selling of the book is what is called the sales copy. The sales copy is the bit that goes on the back of the book After a bunch of research it seems that the prevailing wisdom is to write that before you even write the book. Shit, I didn’t do that exactly right I guess, but I am nowhere near done with the book and I guess there is no time like the present. So, I found a bit of a guiding method for the sales copy. It is still a work in progress, but here is what I have so far. It will probably change, but might as well throw it out there.
A Special Operations team is sent to check out the loss of communication to an entire solar system. What they discover will change everything…
Senior Chief Petty Officer (SCPO) Jackson has built a life on keeping his team safe.
Can Jackson protect his chosen family as they give it their all to save humanity? Can he lead his team through the end of all that he and everyone else has ever known?
Join the hair-raising adventure of a lifetime as Shamon takes you to a future where the vastness of space can bring anything… and it is all wrapped up in the horror of the collapse of civilization.
So there it is, would you buy this book?
Shamon
VEHO: A BACKSTORY Gets the Audible Treatment
In trying to understand all this book-writing stuff, another area I wanted to delve into was audiobooks. It has been a long process, but I got a lot of feedback from readers on needing to turn VEHO: A BACKSTORY into an audio version.
I am happy to announce that I dropped down the rabbit hole and now that version is available. After researching this, Amazon Audible was the way to go. Amazon does audiobooks through its ACX program. It is much like the Kindle KDP program for publishing books.
ACX is a publishing platform, a collaboration platform for the creation process, and a marketplace for authors to connect to people who produce and create audiobooks. You can also record and upload your own recorded material, but I was not interested in doing that. One of the cool things about it is that people audition for your story if they find it interesting. VEHO: A BACKSTORY received twenty-two auditions based on a script that I created. It was so much fun to listen to the auditions and hear people bringing something you created to life in a new way.
Part of the process is also hashing out a production contract between the author and the producer.
After listening to the auditions, getting feedback, and going back and forth with a few producers, I finally settled on Anthony Aiello who happens to be an actor, narrator, and audiophile. Working with him and his wife to record VEHO: A BACKSTORY was such a cool process. They brought it to life in a way that just makes the whole thing pop! It is a whole new way to take in something I created and blew me away. I am super excited for you to listen to it and let me know what you think.
You can get it on Amazon audible here: https://a.co/d/f14GNpO
This whole thing with VEHO: A BACKSTORY was going on while I continued to write the first novel in the Humanity Shattered series. I am still in that process now, I passed thirty-three thousand words just this last weekend. It blows my mind that I have written that much in between doing my everyday life. The novel has certainly taken on a life of its own.
From what I understand writers tend to land in a couple of camps when it comes to their writing style. Pantsers and Planners. Pantsers are people who just sit down and start writing, there is no formal plan or outline that they write from. The story kind of unfolds through the process. Planners are the opposite. They write from an outline and meticulously plan out their story.
What am I? Well, I love it when a plan comes together… until I don’t. So, what that means is I initially laid out a plan and created an outline, but I find that there are times when the story takes over and I go in completely unplanned directions.
Just as an example part of my character development process is jotting down what I may know about a character. It helps me to keep track of them and know them a bit. It also keeps me honest when writing them. I don’t want to do something out of character for a character. Well, I created a character early in the story that I liked, I mean I thought he would be a central character for the story (I even named him after my all-time favorite Cleveland Browns quarterback), but as I was writing it became clear that he was going to die. It blew my mind when I was writing, and I even tried to kill someone else instead, but it just wasn’t right. It literally just happened
It threw me so much that my wife asked me what was wrong when I walked into the room where she was. I told her I just killed someone and I wasn’t expecting it.
So, I guess I am a planner until I am a pantser when it comes to writing. What I am saying is that I don’t want to strangle the creative process of story writing with a plan that may or may not be the best serve the situation. I guess I can’t be put in a box.
Shamon
I am happy to announce that I dropped down the rabbit hole and now that version is available. After researching this, Amazon Audible was the way to go. Amazon does audiobooks through its ACX program. It is much like the Kindle KDP program for publishing books.
ACX is a publishing platform, a collaboration platform for the creation process, and a marketplace for authors to connect to people who produce and create audiobooks. You can also record and upload your own recorded material, but I was not interested in doing that. One of the cool things about it is that people audition for your story if they find it interesting. VEHO: A BACKSTORY received twenty-two auditions based on a script that I created. It was so much fun to listen to the auditions and hear people bringing something you created to life in a new way.
Part of the process is also hashing out a production contract between the author and the producer.
After listening to the auditions, getting feedback, and going back and forth with a few producers, I finally settled on Anthony Aiello who happens to be an actor, narrator, and audiophile. Working with him and his wife to record VEHO: A BACKSTORY was such a cool process. They brought it to life in a way that just makes the whole thing pop! It is a whole new way to take in something I created and blew me away. I am super excited for you to listen to it and let me know what you think.
You can get it on Amazon audible here: https://a.co/d/f14GNpO
This whole thing with VEHO: A BACKSTORY was going on while I continued to write the first novel in the Humanity Shattered series. I am still in that process now, I passed thirty-three thousand words just this last weekend. It blows my mind that I have written that much in between doing my everyday life. The novel has certainly taken on a life of its own.
From what I understand writers tend to land in a couple of camps when it comes to their writing style. Pantsers and Planners. Pantsers are people who just sit down and start writing, there is no formal plan or outline that they write from. The story kind of unfolds through the process. Planners are the opposite. They write from an outline and meticulously plan out their story.
What am I? Well, I love it when a plan comes together… until I don’t. So, what that means is I initially laid out a plan and created an outline, but I find that there are times when the story takes over and I go in completely unplanned directions.
Just as an example part of my character development process is jotting down what I may know about a character. It helps me to keep track of them and know them a bit. It also keeps me honest when writing them. I don’t want to do something out of character for a character. Well, I created a character early in the story that I liked, I mean I thought he would be a central character for the story (I even named him after my all-time favorite Cleveland Browns quarterback), but as I was writing it became clear that he was going to die. It blew my mind when I was writing, and I even tried to kill someone else instead, but it just wasn’t right. It literally just happened
It threw me so much that my wife asked me what was wrong when I walked into the room where she was. I told her I just killed someone and I wasn’t expecting it.
So, I guess I am a planner until I am a pantser when it comes to writing. What I am saying is that I don’t want to strangle the creative process of story writing with a plan that may or may not be the best serve the situation. I guess I can’t be put in a box.
Shamon
This Shit Is Overwhelming
Trying to wrap your head around self publishing a book is insane.
I have been trying to work through all this stuff and map out the best way to go about all this book writing stuff. I basically research until my head hurts and then I stop for a while and research again. Like most stuff there is so much conflicting information that it boggles the mind.
Ok, rant over… for now…
Anyway, I have been setting up a digital footprint for writing. In my day job of owning and marketing a business and helping others do the same, I feel like I understand all of that part. I really don’t want to create this whole extensive social media presence where it has to be constantly updated and kept up with, but I do want to be able to connect with people and share with them this journey that I am on for writing a book and trying to sell it. I am sure a professional writer would just laugh at my efforts.
Writing has been a bit on the back burner the last couple of weeks as I have been working through all that digital footprint stuff. I landed on Facebook and Instagram. I know they are pretty basic, but there are just so many more people on those two platforms. Also, they both fit into my normal social media life.
I have created a pretty basic website, profiles for both Facebook and Instagram, selected Mail Lite to manage my newsletter list, and set up the automation to send a welcome message to people that join the newsletter.
The website is cheap, I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on a website since I don’t know how much use it will actually get. The Mail Lite was free for now, and free is in budget!
Today’s time has been spent on where or who you publish your work through. For this it seems like Amazon KDP and Ingramspark paired together seems to be the common wisdom. Amazon because of course it has to be on Amazon and 85% of the digital market is on Amazon. That one seems like a no brainer and is most likely the main focus of where I will be publishing. I want to make sure my work is available via Amazon Kindle. Ingramspark seems to be a little better for the paperback or physical version. Once it is on Ingramspark you can have it put into distribution for print on demand in so many markets, including Amazon for the physical book.
For some reason many people also do their physical book through Amazon KDP, but I am not sure about that yet. This whole journey is enlightening and crazy all at the same time. Remember, I am not a professional author so what the hell do I know? I am just a dude trying to write a book with a wild imagination.
Shamon
I have been trying to work through all this stuff and map out the best way to go about all this book writing stuff. I basically research until my head hurts and then I stop for a while and research again. Like most stuff there is so much conflicting information that it boggles the mind.
Ok, rant over… for now…
Anyway, I have been setting up a digital footprint for writing. In my day job of owning and marketing a business and helping others do the same, I feel like I understand all of that part. I really don’t want to create this whole extensive social media presence where it has to be constantly updated and kept up with, but I do want to be able to connect with people and share with them this journey that I am on for writing a book and trying to sell it. I am sure a professional writer would just laugh at my efforts.
Writing has been a bit on the back burner the last couple of weeks as I have been working through all that digital footprint stuff. I landed on Facebook and Instagram. I know they are pretty basic, but there are just so many more people on those two platforms. Also, they both fit into my normal social media life.
I have created a pretty basic website, profiles for both Facebook and Instagram, selected Mail Lite to manage my newsletter list, and set up the automation to send a welcome message to people that join the newsletter.
The website is cheap, I didn’t want to spend a ton of money on a website since I don’t know how much use it will actually get. The Mail Lite was free for now, and free is in budget!
Today’s time has been spent on where or who you publish your work through. For this it seems like Amazon KDP and Ingramspark paired together seems to be the common wisdom. Amazon because of course it has to be on Amazon and 85% of the digital market is on Amazon. That one seems like a no brainer and is most likely the main focus of where I will be publishing. I want to make sure my work is available via Amazon Kindle. Ingramspark seems to be a little better for the paperback or physical version. Once it is on Ingramspark you can have it put into distribution for print on demand in so many markets, including Amazon for the physical book.
For some reason many people also do their physical book through Amazon KDP, but I am not sure about that yet. This whole journey is enlightening and crazy all at the same time. Remember, I am not a professional author so what the hell do I know? I am just a dude trying to write a book with a wild imagination.
Shamon
January 11, 2024
Celebrate!
Today started like any other for me…. I struggled to get out of bed because it was still dark at 6:50 am, I poured some coffee, spent some time in prayer and mindfulness, and worked out even on my Peloton. This would be a normal weekday morning for me. So what was different you may ask?
Well unbeknownst to me, my short story VEHO: A BACKSTORY ended up on Amazon’s top 100 list for Best Sellers in 45-Minute Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads. It was 88 and thus makes it a best seller. I thought it was kind of funny, but then I was like wait. That is not a bad accomplishment for just some dude who loves science fiction and creativity. So, I have to say, it was a good day… and for those my age you may get this next reference. “I didn’t even have to use my A-K.”
So, I figured why not celebrate some hard work? We all spend so much time killing ourselves to work our butts off and I figured why not throw caution to the wind and party like it's 1999. I didn’t party in 1999. I was working in tech at the time, sitting in a network control center waiting for the world to end just like everyone else was, but it didn’t and because it didn’t I now have a story as a best seller on Amazon!
Anyway, I don’t think it means much, but it feels like an accomplishment and I am proud of that.
So, thank you for checking this story out and supporting it!
Go ahead, party like it’s 1999, I give you permission just in case you need it…
Shamon
Well unbeknownst to me, my short story VEHO: A BACKSTORY ended up on Amazon’s top 100 list for Best Sellers in 45-Minute Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads. It was 88 and thus makes it a best seller. I thought it was kind of funny, but then I was like wait. That is not a bad accomplishment for just some dude who loves science fiction and creativity. So, I have to say, it was a good day… and for those my age you may get this next reference. “I didn’t even have to use my A-K.”
So, I figured why not celebrate some hard work? We all spend so much time killing ourselves to work our butts off and I figured why not throw caution to the wind and party like it's 1999. I didn’t party in 1999. I was working in tech at the time, sitting in a network control center waiting for the world to end just like everyone else was, but it didn’t and because it didn’t I now have a story as a best seller on Amazon!
Anyway, I don’t think it means much, but it feels like an accomplishment and I am proud of that.
So, thank you for checking this story out and supporting it!
Go ahead, party like it’s 1999, I give you permission just in case you need it…
Shamon
Building Your Books As A Business
Being an entrepreneur, very little happens where you don’t think this could be a business. Well, in working toward creating a science fiction book, I figured I might as well structure this as a business as well.
I don’t know how other people do this, because I have not talked to many or know anyone that has created a business with the idea of writing books. I have been doing a deep dive and trying to understand how this is done though.
What I have learned is that there are a lot of ways to go about this. All of them seem intimidating…
Just like most things you tend to read about and look into, there seem to be opinions all over the map. Often contradicting each other. Clear as mud I guess, just like most of what I get into.
I enjoy the act of figuring things out. At least until I am overwhelmed with frustration that is.
So here is what I have landed on so far. The book should be a business, and who knows, maybe there will be more books coming along that also contribute to the business. Actually, that has been the idea all along really. It more or less comes down to how I structure this whole thing. Trying to overlay some business structure while also being creative and writing is a challenge. These two things feel like they don’t go together very well, but I believe they have to.
Here are the steps I have taken this week for this book/business venture.
1. Opened a checking account so I know how much I am sinking into this and have good accountability on this “business.”
2. Set up website hosting and an email account for this business
shamon@shamonwrites.com is the email account
ShamonWrites.com is the website and unofficial business name so far.
3. Started writing blogs that will eventually be released for this website to document the process.
4. Set up an email contact CRM tool to start an email newsletter to build an email list in order to keep people updated.
5. Been working on the sales copy for the back of the book and eventual sales pages.
I read somewhere that doing this before you wrote the book was best. I am not sure about that yet, and I have not finished the book yet, so who knows? I do have a basic idea of where the book is going to go and what it is about. So, it was fun to play with this a little bit and see how it felt along the way.
All this while doing my day job and also writing as often as I can.
At this point, I have written over twelve thousand words of the book. Who knows if any of them will see the light of day, but it feels so accomplished and so insignificant at the same time. How is that even possible?
I don’t know how other people do this, because I have not talked to many or know anyone that has created a business with the idea of writing books. I have been doing a deep dive and trying to understand how this is done though.
What I have learned is that there are a lot of ways to go about this. All of them seem intimidating…
Just like most things you tend to read about and look into, there seem to be opinions all over the map. Often contradicting each other. Clear as mud I guess, just like most of what I get into.
I enjoy the act of figuring things out. At least until I am overwhelmed with frustration that is.
So here is what I have landed on so far. The book should be a business, and who knows, maybe there will be more books coming along that also contribute to the business. Actually, that has been the idea all along really. It more or less comes down to how I structure this whole thing. Trying to overlay some business structure while also being creative and writing is a challenge. These two things feel like they don’t go together very well, but I believe they have to.
Here are the steps I have taken this week for this book/business venture.
1. Opened a checking account so I know how much I am sinking into this and have good accountability on this “business.”
2. Set up website hosting and an email account for this business
shamon@shamonwrites.com is the email account
ShamonWrites.com is the website and unofficial business name so far.
3. Started writing blogs that will eventually be released for this website to document the process.
4. Set up an email contact CRM tool to start an email newsletter to build an email list in order to keep people updated.
5. Been working on the sales copy for the back of the book and eventual sales pages.
I read somewhere that doing this before you wrote the book was best. I am not sure about that yet, and I have not finished the book yet, so who knows? I do have a basic idea of where the book is going to go and what it is about. So, it was fun to play with this a little bit and see how it felt along the way.
All this while doing my day job and also writing as often as I can.
At this point, I have written over twelve thousand words of the book. Who knows if any of them will see the light of day, but it feels so accomplished and so insignificant at the same time. How is that even possible?
Doing Something Out Of Character
Have you ever just decided to do something that seems so out of character for you that you almost can’t wrap your mind around it? Something that you are scared of, and wonder what if other people will think you have lost your mind over?
So, I feel like I have lost my mind…
I have always considered myself a bit of a creative person in different ways throughout my life. Sometimes it has been drawing, sometimes it has been painting, it has been photography, I have played with poetry on occasion, and recently I have spent a lot of time learning how to perform sound baths with multiple instruments.
Yeah, I am all over the place.
Lately, I have been writing. None of my social circle would expect this kind of thing from me.
I have never considered myself a writer. I have thought, if I were to do it all over again, maybe I would be a journalist. I enjoy journalism, or at least my idealized version of it. I am sure the reality of it would not be anywhere close to what I dream it may be.
I am however an avid fan of science fiction. I really dig it when there is an element of impending doom or horror as well.
Recently, my wife wrote an awesome book entitled Soul Sabbatical: A Journey to Revive the Heart. I have watched this process over the last year in awe and inspiration. Her book is about reclaiming your heart from burnout and is driven by her story and experience. It is truly an amazing piece of work.
Through being by her side in this process, we have learned a lot about bringing a story to life from conception to a tangible thing held in your hand. The whole thing has been amazing to be a small part of and witness.
It does get the juices flowing though…
So, being this intermittent creative that I am, it has me writing. It has me writing in a whole different direction than the rest of my life, which is typically how my creative flow tends to go. Often, I think it is the counterweight to all my “normal” stuff.
I am a business owner, and along with my wife, we own and operate a couple of different businesses. This would be my “normal” stuff.
I started writing sci-fi stories recently and it can take over. I get into a creative flow and just go. So, why not try my hand at writing a book?
Did I just say that out loud? What the hell…
I have never written a book before, I can’t say I know much about it, but here I am.
Often I feel like the difference between someone who does and does not is that they just did it. Whatever the thing may be, they jumped into it, took the bull by the horns, and did it.
Well, this is me doing that… I think…
So, I feel like I have lost my mind…
I have always considered myself a bit of a creative person in different ways throughout my life. Sometimes it has been drawing, sometimes it has been painting, it has been photography, I have played with poetry on occasion, and recently I have spent a lot of time learning how to perform sound baths with multiple instruments.
Yeah, I am all over the place.
Lately, I have been writing. None of my social circle would expect this kind of thing from me.
I have never considered myself a writer. I have thought, if I were to do it all over again, maybe I would be a journalist. I enjoy journalism, or at least my idealized version of it. I am sure the reality of it would not be anywhere close to what I dream it may be.
I am however an avid fan of science fiction. I really dig it when there is an element of impending doom or horror as well.
Recently, my wife wrote an awesome book entitled Soul Sabbatical: A Journey to Revive the Heart. I have watched this process over the last year in awe and inspiration. Her book is about reclaiming your heart from burnout and is driven by her story and experience. It is truly an amazing piece of work.
Through being by her side in this process, we have learned a lot about bringing a story to life from conception to a tangible thing held in your hand. The whole thing has been amazing to be a small part of and witness.
It does get the juices flowing though…
So, being this intermittent creative that I am, it has me writing. It has me writing in a whole different direction than the rest of my life, which is typically how my creative flow tends to go. Often, I think it is the counterweight to all my “normal” stuff.
I am a business owner, and along with my wife, we own and operate a couple of different businesses. This would be my “normal” stuff.
I started writing sci-fi stories recently and it can take over. I get into a creative flow and just go. So, why not try my hand at writing a book?
Did I just say that out loud? What the hell…
I have never written a book before, I can’t say I know much about it, but here I am.
Often I feel like the difference between someone who does and does not is that they just did it. Whatever the thing may be, they jumped into it, took the bull by the horns, and did it.
Well, this is me doing that… I think…
