Jason Brant's Blog, page 10

Day 84 – Long Day

I spent all night awake with my dog who was suffering from pancreatitis. Basically, she had to go to the bathroom all night, so sleep wasn’t a thing for either of us.

Then we spent the morning at the vet and the afternoon napping.

After I woke up, the Final Guys livestream shit the bed again. Having a helluva time figuring this thing. Ugh.

So yeah, no writing today. Gotta get back on it tomorrow, because I’m falling behind on book 6.

See ya tomorrow.

The post Day 84 – Long Day appeared first on Jason Brant.

Day 83 – Pantser Problem

I’ve finished the first act of the new book. Good news. Except that I always get stuck at the end of the first act. It usually takes me a day or two to figure out the next steps for the characters.

I hit that sticking point yesterday. My progress halted like I hit a brick wall.

Typically, when this happens, I start taking a lot of walks. Pounding the pavement helps me work things out. I walked a few miles yesterday and even more today. It’s helped me make some good progress with the story arc, I hope.

We’ll find out tomorrow when I take another crack at the book. I only managed 1200 or so words yesterday and none today. We’ll see what happens.

I also worked out the kinks for Final Guys that came up last week. I won’t know for sure until we attempt to go live, but let’s hope for the best. It took a lot longer than I’d hoped.

That’s about all I managed to do today. Some things came up that derailed me for a few hours and will do so again tomorrow morning. But hopefully I can get some work in around noon and start cranking this sucker out.

See ya tomorrow.

The post Day 83 – Pantser Problem appeared first on Jason Brant.

Day 82 – Sunday Funday

It’s already after midnight, so I’m just getting this thrown up here to feel better about it. Not much of a daily blog if I’m not saying anything interesting, but some days I just don’t have the time or willpower.

Today, I watched Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark for Final Guys, wrote 1255 words in The Hunger #6, and started answering questions for an upcoming interview. Back to the grind tomorrow.

The post Day 82 – Sunday Funday appeared first on Jason Brant.

Day 80, 81

Apparently, I forgot to post yesterday’s blog. It was just an accountability day, because I’m pretty busy this weekend, but it still bothers me that I didn’t do it. Completely slipped my mind, even though I’d literally sat down at my PC with the intention of posting it.

Being stupid really sucks sometimes.

I’m keeping this a short one today, because I’m poking around several different projects. I’ve been working on my website a bit to make things a little easier to navigate on mobile devices. On a computer, it’s exactly how I want it, but on a phone the homepage is a little much. Should get it finished this weekend.

Because Google decided to get rid of Hangouts on Air, we weren’t able to record Final Guys this week. That really chapped my ass. So I’m spending quite a bit of time this weekend trying to get Skype to work with the software I use to produce the show. It’s being a pain in the neck, so who knows how long it’s going to take to get it working right.

And I’m still trying to finish the next episode of SBIG. I wanted to get it done yesterday, but that obviously didn’t happen. It’s taking a bit more work than I’d anticipated, but I think it’ll be worth it in the end. It’s a pretty fun one.

Of course, I’m still plugging away at book 6. Today, I wrote 1668 words in the untitled sixth book in The Hunger. I’m about a third of the way done now. Picking up a little bit of steam.

See ya tomorrow.

The post Day 80, 81 appeared first on Jason Brant.

Day 79 – Being Present

One of my focuses over the past few weeks is being present in the moment. Everyone has noticed how bad people are in public with being on their phone all the time. If you walk into a restaurant, half the people sitting at a table are scrolling through their social media poison of choice.

I’m not talking about that. That’s obviously mental cancer.

What I’m referring to are the little things.

I noticed that I was getting my phone out way too often while I was watching movies. If there wasn’t a crazy action scene on the TV at that moment, I’d check my email or my sales or the weird messages I get on Facebook. Next thing I knew, I missed an important scene or a piece of dialogue that explained a story twist.

When I was writing, my phone would ding.

Boom, I’m retweeting something instead of working on a character bit.

This happens a lot. Next time you go to a concert, check out how many people are recording or taking pictures on their phone. They aren’t experiencing the moment, they’re trying to record it. What’s the point of preserving a memory that you never experienced in the first place? Are you ever going to watch that video you recorded in the dark of a football game you were seventy-five yards away from?

No, you aren’t.

So I’ve put away the phone. When the itch to whip it out (heh) hits me, I resist the urge. Watch the goddamn movie. Talk to the slightly stinky guy beside you at the bar. He might have a good story about why he smells like onions. Or maybe he’s just weird and you’ll have an even better tale to tell your friends later.

When it’s time to work, then work. Take pride in what you’re doing. Writing sprints do this for me. My biggest problem right now is that I’m not doing enough of them. But that’s a blog for another time.

The result? I’m enjoying movies more. Music has more meaning. I’m reading more books, finishing more workouts, and meeting more people.

It’s working.

Do it.

And then buy me a beer at the bar and explain to me why you reek of onions.

Today, I wrote 1168 words in the untitled sixth book in The Hunger, bringing the total to 22863.

See ya tomorrow.

 

The post Day 79 – Being Present appeared first on Jason Brant.

Day 78 – Audiobook Sales

Audiobooks are a big portion of my income. Ebooks are number one, but audio comes in at a decent second. Because of the higher price of audiobooks, I often make more per sale there than I do for an ebook.

I love audio.

Until now, I’ve produced all my books exclusively through ACX.com. They allow me to share my royalties with a narrator, if I choose, and distribute exclusively through Audible (which sells through their site and iTunes). A few years ago, they had great royalty rates and even percentage escalators depending upon sales.

Now, I get 20% of a sale and my narrator gets 20%.

That’s shit.

I’m currently looking into alternative platforms that will still allow me to distribute to Audible and iTunes. So far, I’m liking Findaway Voices. They seem to have great distribution, which is a positive. As best I can tell, the royalty rates appear to be the same. Because I’m writing in several series right now with Asher Benson and The Hunger, I don’t want to change anything with them. I’m going to keep the same narrator and use the same channels.

But for my upcoming standalone book, I’m going to change things up.

I’ve done the royalty-split option with all my novels until now. I’m thinking about paying a narrator upfront on the next one. It will cost several thousand dollars, so it’s going to be a risk. I’ll get double the royalties, which will be nice, but it’ll be interesting to see how long it takes me to recoup the money.

I’ll be sure to update the blog with my results.

Today, I wrote 1062 words in the untitled sixth book in The Hunger. Enjoying the character stuff I’m working on right now.

See ya tomorrow.

The post Day 78 – Audiobook Sales appeared first on Jason Brant.

Day 77 – Podcast Tuesday

I’m sitting on the couch right now, watching The Haunting of Sharon Tate. It’s our main feature for Final Guys tonight, so I have to squeeze it in before we start recording. If you’re wondering how I’m blogging while watching the movie… well… that should tell you what I think about this little gem of a film. I’d rather eat a light bulb than sit through this again.

If you ever get a chance to dramatize a real-life murder into a paranormal/home invasion/thriller/turkey, don’t.

It’s kind of mind-boggling what they attempted to do here.

My work on the sixth book in The Hunger continues, though not as fast as I want. I only managed 1264 words today, which put me over the 20k mark. I’m about a quarter done. The second draft of this shouldn’t take as long though, because I’m happier with this current pass. Still no word on the release date of book five, but I should know something soon.

There were some substantial changes to Google Play recently that have effected publishing there, so I’ll probably blog about those a bit later this week. Google is a substantial part of my publishing strategy and I don’t think enough authors take advantage of the platform.

I’m also open to topics suggested by you lot. There are a lot of days left in the year that I have to fill with blogs, so give me ideas.

Anyway, join us on Final Guys tonight at 8 PM EST on YouTube if you want to hear me talk about my Scares That Care experience. And if you want to hear some funny commentary about The Haunting of Sharon Tate.

See ya tomorrow.

The post Day 77 – Podcast Tuesday appeared first on Jason Brant.

Day 76 – Scares That Care

I went to Scares That Care this weekend. It was the first time I’d gone to the event, so I didn’t really know what to expect. Scares is a charity event that sponsors families suffering from childhood illness, breast cancer, and burns. They raise a significant amount of money to help these people. It’s a great cause that The Tall One and I are interested in helping out with next year.

One of the best things about this event is the size of it. There aren’t a lot of people there, so rather than spend two hours waiting for an autograph, you can walk right over and shoot the shit with an author. It’s great.

Anyway, I went for the first time this year and had a blast. I got to meet some great authors and actors and bought too many books. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures or get books from a few people I meant to. Damn beer. But I did get some good ones.

First up, we met Kane Hodder. He literally yelled at us as we walked by because we didn’t stop at his table. We probably talked to him for thirty minutes or more, which was cool. Then he bought The Tall One a shot at the bar and did another round of shots with us that evening. Kane was a really cool dude who seems to intimidate the hell out of everyone else at the convention. The amount of authors who were concerned for us because we were meeting him for drinks was hilarious. He gave me shit, I gave it back, and everything was a ton of fun. He was a big fan of The Tall One.

Shots of Jack with Kane Hodder gets a thumbs up from me.

There were a ton of authors there, some I knew, most I didn’t. People I stupidly didn’t get pictures with were Tim Meyer, Russell James, Somer Cannon, Armand Rosamilia, Chuck Buda, Jeff Strand, Wrath James White, Jonathan Maberry, and a ton of others. I spent hours talking with everyone and didn’t get pictures. I suck.

Josh Malerman, author of Bird Box, was there. We talked to him for quite a while. Great guy. Very generous with his time. Killer writer too. Dude is tall as hell.

Beside Malerman was another skyscraper in Paul Tremblay. I don’t know what they’re feeding the horror authors these days, but they’re all giants. If you haven’t read Paul’s work, then stop reading this stupid post and go get A Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil’s Rock. Also a super nice guy that had to deal with our weirdness for much too long.

And of course, I got to meet Joe Bob Briggs. Anyone who knows me understands the influence Joe Bob had on my teenage years. He’s one of four writers who were instrumental in the development of my writing style. The guy is fucking hilarious. And extremely humble.

He has a show that he tours around called How Rednecks Saved Hollywood. It’s part lecture, part stand-up comedy, part history lesson, all awesome. We caught it on Friday night and waited to get autographs and pictures afterward. While he was signing some copies of his books and a bad ass Monstervision poster, I told him how influential he was to me.

The dude got awkward and tried to deflect. It was funny and impressive and made me even more of a fan.

We only chatted him up a bit that night, but were able to stop by his table on Saturday. Twice. Probably spent another 20 or 30 minutes with him. We talked movies and writing and shitty airlines. A very funny, very sharp dude. And he’s goddamn huge. When he stood up to take a picture he towered over me. I’m 6’3″ to give you some perspective.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention his partner-in-crime, Darcy The Mail Girl. She has more professional names than I have novels, so I’ll just stick with calling her Darcy for this blog. Just in the short time we were able to converse with her, she was great. It seemed to me that she wanted to take a backseat to Joe Bob during the signings, which makes sense. But that’s a shame, because she was a lot of fun to talk to. She’s a huge part of the resurgence of Joe Bob, appointment TV on Shudder, and in the horror genre in general. She should be celebrated for it.

If you get to meet her, ask about Hogzilla. She lights up like a Christmas tree. It’s a great conversation to have – you won’t be disappointed.

There’s so much more to talk about when it comes to the convention, but this post is already too long. There were tons of great costumes and panels and vendors. If you love the genre, then you’ll love this con. I’ll leave you with this killer costume of Hellgirl. She made it herself and won the costume contest on Saturday. Very impressive work from anyone, let alone such a young lady.

See ya tomorrow.

The post Day 76 – Scares That Care appeared first on Jason Brant.

Day 73, 74, 75 – No Service

My plan to blog and write while at Scares That Care died a horrible death. I did write the first day, getting 777 words down before hitting the road. Lots of traffic on the way down, which sucked, but wasn’t overly brutal. I hate sitting in cars. Turns me into a whiny baby.

The hotel we stayed in had complimentary ‘wi-fi’.

It didn’t work worth a shit.

I managed to connect once. A single website loaded and that was it. Never worked again. So even though I wrote the first day, I couldn’t blog. I had every intention to, but whatever. More excuses, I know.

Still, I figured I could get a quick post up explaining the situation from my cellphone, but Williamsburg, Virginia isn’t a fan of my provider. No service for Google Fi there. At all. So, I thought I could hop on the Hilton wi-fi at the convention and update from there. Their guest wi-fi is tied to customer accounts, so I couldn’t do that either.

Jesus H.

To be honest, it wasn’t the worst thing. Lately, I’ve been focusing on being more in the moment. Present. I haven’t whipped out my cellphone every five seconds to check messages or sales or whatever like I used to. There will be a longer blog on that this week. Not worrying about that crap allowed me to enjoy the experience of the con much more.

We had a ton of fun and met a lot of cool people. Kane Hodder bought my wife a shot.

Tomorrow, I’ll do a big write-up with pics and descriptions of the events. Tonight though, I’m going to kick back and relax. Looking forward to writing more. Really digging what this blog has done for my work.

See ya tomorrow.

The post Day 73, 74, 75 – No Service appeared first on Jason Brant.

Day 72 – Awards

Allow me to pontificate about why I don’t give a shit about awards. If that sounds douchey (is that a word?), that’s because it is. But it’s also true.

I’ve never been nominated for a major award or won one. As far as I know. It’s just not something that interests me. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t accept one, as gracefully as an idiot can, but it isn’t something I strive for.

I want reader reviews. Reader emails. Facebook messages. Tweets. Knowing that readers are consuming and enjoying my work is what’s important to me. Having my characters resonate matters. Do my plots engage people? Those are my goals. That’s my validation. And sales, of course. My wife has this annoying eating habit. Trying to break her of that.

Hearing from my peers is less than important. I love when another author reaches out and tells me how much they loved one of my books, don’t get me wrong. But when they do that, it’s as a reader. At least in my eyes.

Award shows are basically just being recognized by your peers. That’s great and all. I’m not trying to diminish it. But it isn’t a driving force for me. Entertaining people is.

Giving a speech in front of a bunch of other authors doesn’t blow my skirt up. Not yet, anyway. My opinions have changed in the past. So far, I just want to save reader emails and enjoy bringing someone a few hours of entertainment.

Today, I wrote 2121 words. I’m hoping to sneak 1k in tomorrow when I get to my hotel room at Scares That Care, but we’ll see. Gotta keep cutting out excuses.

See ya tomorrow for what will likely be a short post.

The post Day 72 – Awards appeared first on Jason Brant.