David R. Michael's Blog, page 39

I Have Big Plans for 2011

Big plans. Plans that scare me more than a little bit.
 
I set somewhat ambitious goals for myself for 2010. Set them in December. Got started in January. And pretty much imploded immediately.
 
I suffered a crisis of confidence. Or faith. Or whatever.
 
Throughout the late winter and early spring I (very slowly) pulled together a list of publishers to send The Girl Who Ran With Horses. Then I (very slowly) started sending out queries. I found the process so emotionally draining that it interfered with my writing. A big part of the sluggishness and emotional drain was that I thought/feared I was wasting my time. I had (and still have) complete faith in the book. It's a good book (a couple people I don't even know say so too). But I had no faith in my ability to convince an editor that they should buy it. The whole process seemed like a waste of time, paper and postage. And I guess that's how it turned out. I made a list of 19 publishers to query, but I only actually submitted to 9 of those. And from those 9, I have 7 rejections, mostly form rejections. On the other hand, I'm glad I gave it a shot. Submitting to publishers was a goal for 2010, and I went for it.
 
I got my act back together in the early summer, though, and wrote throughout the summer and fall and into early December. It helped me, mentally and emotionally, when I decided that I was going to go indie with my writing. Once I made that decision, I knew why I was writing (which has plagued me off and on since 2005). I had a new goal, and I liked it. That said, indie publishing has created a whole new distraction from writing. One that I need to get more fully under control.
 
All told, I wrote an estimated 110,000 words in 2010, divided up between 13 short stories and 2 incomplete novels. That's not dreadful for a part-time writer, but it's far short of my goal for the year.
 
On the indie publishing side, I released 2 novels, 2 collections of flash fiction, and 2 short stories.
 
I didn't foresee 2010 going the way it has gone. But except for my low word count, I'm OK with the year as a whole. I've continued to experiment with my writing and storytelling. I've learned a lot about indie publishing and marketing. And I've even sold a few copies of my books.
 
So, yeah, I didn't hit my writing goals for 2010. But I had fun (mostly) and learned a lot.
 
For 2011, I've decided to double down. I have the opportunity to make writing and indie publishing my full time focus for 2011. It only makes sense to seize that opportunity and go for it.
 
I have 2 main writing goals for 2011:

Write 20,000 words per week.
Complete 6 novels by the end of the year.

 
If I hit the first goal, the second is easy.
 
Further, I plan to alternate writing young adult/tween novels with *not* YA/Tween novels. I liked it when my daughter read The Girl Who Ran With Horses. I want more of that.
 
I've decided not to set a word per day goal this year. Instead, I'm focusing on weekly production. One reason I'm doing this is that I expect to put off my publishing and marketing tasks for the week until after I've hit my 20K words. Otherwise, I tend to let marketing (and checking my sales) become an impediment. I need new novels completed more than I need another review or two lined up, and definitely more than I need to know if sold a copy or three today.
 
For 2011, I have separated my publishing goals from my writing goals. My writing goals are purely concerned with putting words down on paper one after the other until I reach "The End" of novel after novel. My publishing goals are secondary, concerned with putting all those words to proper use.
 
My publishing goals for 2011 are :

Publish my current outstanding "backlist" projects (1 novella, 2 collections, and [maybe] a novel).
Publish new novel manuscripts within 6 months of completing the first draft.
Publish new short stories within 3 months of completing the first draft.

 
I've come up with some "target sales numbers", as well. Those aren't goals, though, because I have no real control over sales. If/when I hit the first target, I'll set my sights on the next target, and so on. I'm going to check my sales more often than I should. That's a given. So it makes sense to have some kind of context for the numbers I see. My first target sales number is $250 in royalties per month. At that point, my "business" of writing and publishing becomes largely self-sustaining (and stops costs me out-of-pocket money). I came up with $250/month because it seems to cost about $500 to get a POD+ebook novel ready to go (cover, proofs, etc), and I want to release a new novel or collection every 2 months.
 
Are my goals for 2011 aggressive? Yes, they are. Agressive enough to scare me and excite me. This time I'm not trying to fit my writing into my normal schedule. No, this time I'm upending my schedule, rearranging it to make my writing the Most Important Thing. I haven't so completely rearranged my day-to-day routine since I quit-and-went-home to self-employed status nearly 12 years ago.
 
Monday morning, 3 January 2011, I start. It almost feels like I'm starting a new job. I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm scared. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can accomplish. Overall, It's a good feeling.
 
Happy writing!
 
-David
 

Win a FREE Signed Copy of The Girl Who Ran With Horses!

 

Enter through Friday, December 24, to win a FREE copy of The Girl Who Ran With Horses !
 
1 FREE signed copy of The Girl Who Ran With Horses in trade paperback will be given away.
 
Click Here to Enter
 
It's summer vacation and all 13-year-old Stevie Buckbee wants is to be close to her family again and to ride her horses–especially Jack Rabbit, her first horse all her own. But past tragedies threaten her plans before the summer has a chance to begin. Even as she discovers that she is somehow able to communicate with Jack Rabbit and the other horses on the family ranch, she finds she can no longer get through to her Dad and brother Blake. And what good is it to be able to run with the horses if no matter how fast and how far she runs, everything she knows and loves is lost?
 
Click Here to Enter
 
-David
 

Win a FREE Signed Copy of The Summoning Fire!

 

Enter through Friday, December 24, to win a FREE copy of The Summoning Fire!
 
1 FREE signed copy of The Summoning Fire in trade paperback will be given away.
 
Click Here to Enter
 
All Reese Howard has left is pain–and a pump-action shotgun. Sam is dead. The Old Man killed her right in front of Reese, a blood sacrifice to fuel his latest powerplay in Hell on Earth. Reese hopes the Old Man made a mistake, leaving her alive and armed. But she doubts it. He knows she's coming. The bastard has to know. Whatever. Reese plans to make him pay. And she plans to die trying.
 
Click Here to Enter
 
-David
 

Writing Progress Report

 
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, December 13, 2010.
 








Writing Project


Words




Monday


Threads – Began a new draft for editing, reorganizing.







Tuesday








Wednesday








Thursday


Gunwitch – reviewed remaining outline, minor editing.







Friday


Edited Door to the Sky chapter 1.







Saturday








Sunday


















Total








 








Marketing/Submission




Monday


Posted "Running Free" to Guns & Magic.
Updated promo thread for HG on KB, MR, and NB.
Updated promo thread for TSF on KB, MR, and NB.
Created giveaways for both TSF and HG on GoodReads, to run from 20-25 Dec.




Tuesday


Submitted HG for review to nonsuchbook, opinionatedme, presentinglenore, seemichelleread, smexbooks, thebookbinge, redheadedbookchild, thestorysiren




Wednesday





Thursday





Friday





Saturday





Sunday





 
Reading List

Gladiatrix by Russell Whitfield.

 

THE GIRL WHO RAN WITH HORSES given 4 Stars at BlogCritics

 

Leslie Wright at BlogCritics gives The Girl Who Ran With Horses 4 stars!
 
In The Girl Who Ran With Horses, [David Michael] has … built his characters from real life, with both the hurts and frustrations that are often in our every day dealings. Stevie is a fun and loving child out of place, and feeling it, acting out in her own abilities. Both her father and her brother deal with life and heartaches in their own way. And yet it takes a very traumatic circumstance to help them draw together and become a family again.


It is a heartwarming book, with just a bit of the paranormal thrown in. The communication she has with the horses is fun and frivolous — and at times painful. This would be a fun and unique story for the young adult reader. It deals with real issues and problems that face many families, and the pace is steady, easy to follow. A great book for old and young alike.
 
Read the whole review here…
 
-David
 

THE SUMMONING FIRE Gets 4 Stars from Juniper Grove

Juniper Grove gives The Summoning Fire 4 Stars!
 
I found it easy to relate to these characters, because even if you haven't went through the same trials as these characters have, there is no doubt that the emotions they display are those that most everyone would…


I am giving The Summoning Fire a solid rating of 4 because it successfully did its job and kept my attention, made me feel for the characters, and kept me guessing as to how it would end. I'm definitely going to read more of David Michael's writings!


Read the whole review here…
 
-David
 

December Is Not a Month

 
Instead, December is a series of events, time sucks, and ponderings. Between the holidays, three family birthdays (including mine), end-of-year assessments, and next year planning, I don't get much done. Productivity happens in fits and starts. Focus is scattered across a variety of chores and necessities. Stress levels go up for a variety of reasons, related and unrelated.
 
In spite of all of that, though, I enjoy December.
 
Back before the turn of the century, when I still had a "real" job, I never took vacation time in December. Didn't need to. Even though the company's "year end" didn't match up with the calendar, all of the company's employees's "year end" certainly did. December was like a month of paid vacation taken at work. Especially since it seemed everyone else did take vacation time in December. Silly people. Along with subsidized health care and a 401k, December is one of the few things I miss about being employed.
 
I like the chaos of December. And the low expectations. I even like my birthday.
 
I like looking back over the year. I like anticipating the New Year and seeing how everything plays out.
 
Every December I take the time to write down what I accomplished in the year now ending, and then make plans and set goals for the year about to begin. So December for me is both about looking back and peering forward, reflection and introspection and prognostication.
 
It's fun.
 
December isn't a month. Not really. But I love it.
 
-David
 

A Stevie Story

NOTE: This is the first story I wrote about Stevie Buckbee. The story occurs during her exile in Tulsa. It might even qualify as the first time Stevie ran with horses. In the novel, Cocoa was renamed Rain and became an appaloosa.
 
Running Free
by David Michael
 
"Alright, everyone," the soccer coach yelled, "line up in the front of the goal."
 
Stevie Buckbee stopped the ball she had been dribbling, and kicked it to the side lines. Then she jogged over to join the other twelve-year-old girls in front of the goal.
 
Some of the girls on the team were slower about forming up, so Stevie found herself looking across the practice pitch towards the other goal, waiting with unusual intensity and anticipation for the coach to give them the inevitable order to run sprints. She felt her arms and legs tremble, her nostrils flare and breath in the spring air. She resisted the urge to shake her head and blow.
 
She laughed when she thought how much she was acting like one of her horses.
 
"What are you laughing at, Buckbee?" Kelly asked, beside her.
 
"Just thinking of how much my horses would love to sample the grass here," Stevie said.
 
"When will you shutup about your stupid horses?" Kelly asked.
 
"Maybe when she goes home to the farm," Amber suggested from the other side of Kelly. "Finally."
 
"That'll suck, though," Kelly said. "Some other poor girl will have to come in last on sprints."
 
Stevie's face got hot. "I'm not poor," she said.
 
"Whatever," Kelly said.
 
"Sprints," the coach said then, her booming voice overwhelming the chatter of the girls. "Four times, back and forth."
 
The other girls took off, including Kelly and Amber, leaving Stevie standing there, still trying to think of something to say.
 
She blew out a breath through her nose and launched herself from the line, right foot first, a right lead, the same kind of lead she liked to use when barrel racing.
 
Her cleated shoes clawed the turf as she ran, her legs pulling her forward as her arms pumped at her sides. She felt the wind pull her hair back like the unshorn mane of a wild horse. She imagined a white and blue barrel set right on the goal line, between the posts. This was the first leg of the race.
 
She finished the first sprint in last place, toeing the line, cutting left–almost cutting the turn too close and knocking the barrel over–then digging in her cleats for the next leg of the exercise as her hair whipped around face.
 
In her mind's eye she could see Cocoa, her mother's old mare, galloping across the practice arena back home, brown eyes gleaming, muscles rippling beneath the smooth brown coat. Stevie and Cocoa seemed to be running at the same pace, closing in on the second barrel, no longer in last place.
 
This time she cut right, her boots carving a furrow in the turf. She and Cocoa both cleared the barrel perfectly, legs in sync, with minimum loss of speed. Their combined momentum hurtled them towards the last barrel.
 
Only Amber and Kelly, the team wingers, were still in front of her when Stevie–and Cocoa–cut left again, cleared the third goal line/barrel and headed for the final goal line/gate.
 
Cleated boots and shod hooves pounded the turf in time with each other. Girl and horse took in huge lungfuls of air and blew them back out again, steaming. Two sets of brown eyes saw only the finish. Neither of them noticed the losers being left behind.
 
"Way to hustle, Buckbee," the coach said as Stevie came to a stop.
 
Stevie only nodded in response, still breathing hard, watching a private vision of Cocoa, prancing and gloating in the fields of her father's ranch.
 
# # #
 
Read more about Stevie Buckbee and her horses in The Girl Who Ran With Horses.
 
The Girl Who Ran With Horses
 
It's summer vacation and all 13-year-old Stevie Buckbee wants is to be close to her family again and to ride her horses–especially Jack Rabbit, her first horse all her own. But past tragedies threaten her plans before the summer even begins. Even as she discovers that she is somehow able to communicate with Jack Rabbit and the other horses on the family ranch, she finds she can no longer get through to her Dad and brother Blake. And what good is it to be able to run with the horses if no matter how fast and how far she runs, everything she knows and loves is lost?
 
Available in trade paperback and ebook formats!
 




The Girl Who Ran With Horses Edition


Price




Trade paperback (Amazon)


$9.99




Kindle edition (Amazon)


$3.99




Nook edition (Barnes & Noble)


$3.99




Ebook (Smashwords)


$3.99




 

Writing Progress Report

 
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, December 6, 2010.
 








Writing Project


Words




Monday


Gunwitch


255




Tuesday








Wednesday








Thursday








Friday








Saturday








Sunday


















Total



255




 








Marketing/Submission




Monday


Updated Horse Girl promo threads at KB, MR and NB.
Posted "Reese Makes a Deal" to Guns & Magic.
Updated TSF promo threads on KB, MR and NB.
Submitted HG for review to tributebooksmama




Tuesday


Submitted HG for review to annasbookblog, angieville, kbgbabbles, bookgazing, booksandotherthoughts




Wednesday


Submitted HG for review to dreaminginbooks, galleysmith, heylady, monkeybearreviews, bookshelfsofdoom




Thursday





Friday


Wrote about how I used The Journal to write Horse Girl for Guns & Magic and The Journal's monthly newsletter.




Saturday





Sunday


Submitted HG for review to junipergrove




 
Reading List

GURPS 4e Low-Tech.
Tag by Simon Royle.

 

Why I Choose to be an Indie Author

 
The short, somewhat flippant answer is: Because I can.
 
Any time there's an indie option, I trend in that direction. I have a problem with authority and established channels.
 
Any time I can produce a product and sell it over the Web, I trend in that direction. I have my own ideas and I want to pursue them my own way.
 
Any time I can produce a product and sell it without having to actually be there, in person, to sell it, I'm all for it. I like economies of scale, and I like making money in my sleep.
 
A Business Perspective
 
In 2003, I wrote The Indie Game Development Survival Guide based on my own experiences as an indie game developer. In that book, I gave the following three reasons why going indie had become a viable option for video games:

Stable platforms and inexpensive development tools (for creation).
Ubiquitous Web access (for distribution).
Acceptance of try-before-you-buy software (for selling).

 
I was a still teenager when I first decided I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to see books with my name on them in bookstores and libraries. I wanted people to enjoy the stories I made up in my head. Until recently, though, the only way that would happen was to have your book published by a "real" publisher. Vanity publishing was, and still is, viewed with disdain and pity. Self-publishing was considered a fool's game, a desperation ploy for wannabe's.
 
It's a different world now.
 
Ereaders like the Kindle and the Nook and others have become mass market items. So have smartphones with ereader applications. And on top of that, more people are willing to read books on laptop screens.
 
Print-on-demand services like CreateSpace provide low-cost, high-quality printing of paperbacks and even hardback books.
 
Distribution channels like Amazon and Barnes & Noble exist that readers use on a daily basis to find their books, both ebooks and printed, both online and offline.
 
The integration of print-on-demand services and distribution channels means you don't have to carry an inventory of your book or take and fulfill orders.
 
Not all the work is done for you, of course. Just like in indie game development and indie software or pretty much anything else (including having your books published in the more traditional way), you have to do your own marketing. In this case, you have to go out and find your own readers. I'm still learning how to do this, but I would like to think I'm getting better at it.
 
The tools, though, are there. All you have to do is make use of them.
 
A Personal Perspective
 
After my failed attempts to find an agent in 2005 and again in 2007, I became quite disillusioned with the entire publishing process. The staggering inefficiency of the process really got me down. As I understood it at the time, I was supposed to send out dozens, maybe hundreds of queries to an agent, 95% of which (or more) would be ignored or rejected. And then, once I had found an agent, I would get to do the whole process again, this time sending queries to publishers, but with the same (or worse) predicted failure rate. There was to be a lot of time (and a lot of rejection) between writing something and seeing it published.
 
Rejection I can take, but I hate wasting time and energy. And it looked like there was a lot of wasted time and energy in the process as a whole.
 
I wanted to write, but it was hard to see the point of writing if I wasn't going to be able to penetrate the process. I've never been good at jumping through hoops, and it looked like I was going to have a lot of hoops to clear. And that's when I slowed down my writing (plus, in 2008 and most of 2009 I was working fulltime developing The Journal 5).
 
In the second half of 2009 I discovered that I had been…not lied to exactly, but misrepresented to repeatedly. I did not need to get an agent first. I could go straight to the publishers and get rejected by people who matter–and who if they didn't reject me could actually write me a check. Half of the wasted time and effort could be eliminated.
 
Also in late 2009 I started hearing about authors who were releasing their work straight to the Kindle and other ereaders. And they were making money at it. Maybe even publishers weren't needed.
 
Both of those got my attention, and I changed my writing goals for 2010. I decided that I would still submit a book to publishers, but if that book wasn't picked up, I would release it on my own.
 
That decision helped me start writing again. I think a big part of why that decision helped is that it put me back in control of my writing. I like being in control of my career. Nearly 12 years of being self-employed has demonstrated that rather well, I think. My writing, though, had never felt under my control (except during A Short Story a Day when I was making no attempt to sell my work). I had to write for agents, and for publishers. I had to follow edicts and decrees of people I didn't know and couldn't influence.
 
I did submit a book to publishers this year, back in the spring, and I wrote throughout the year (after a bit of not-writing in the spring). As the year continued, though, and as I learned more about ebooks and heard about authors who were doing well as indies, I decided I wanted in on that.
 
The world of books and publishing has evolved to the point where indies have an inroad. A massive distribution channel is there, the stigma of self-publishing is going away, if slowly, and opportunities are growing with the sale of every Nook and Kindle. Just like the worlds of software and video games had evolved over a decade ago.
 
I had to give it a try. The mile-wide indie streak in my personality insisted that I give it a try.
 
And here I am.
 
-David