Jerry Autieri's Blog, page 7

Putting the Twit in Twitter

I am ready to inflict myself on the world of Twitter. I actually created the account a while ago, and did nothing with it. Surprisingly, someone actually found me. Okay, that’s one follower! According to John Locke’s completely asinine book on indie writer marketing I only need to amass another 19,999 people to start his program. Then I can hoodwink you suckers write sappy blog posts that will get you buy my books. But I digress.

I’ve been on the fence for a while about the usefulness of Twitter and Facebook as magic marketing tools. But I’m having the slow realization that without some of these tools no one is going to find me. Ever.

Facebook, in my opinion, is just a waste of time. What the fuck does “like” even mean? I guess it gets the word out somehow. Since you liked this blog post now your Facebook friends will read it. From there I guess you’re supposed to reach into your wallets and buy whatever I’m selling. Frankly I think Facebook is better for keeping in touch with family and friends than anything else. Only my family could ever possibly want to know when I’m at the local Meet & Swap, and then only to be sure I’m not swapping something of theirs.

Twitter, however, does seem to hold promise. It looks like there’s an actual conversation going on there. The format actually seems geared toward communication, whereas Facebook looks like a place to post articles and funny pictures of cats.

On Twitter, I just can’t figure out who’s talking, what they’re talking about, and how to talk back. Would one of you kind visitors to this blog follow me and say something? Maybe that’s all I need to get this ball rolling. As for yourself, you will feel so special for having shown a heathen to the light. I promise not to tweet incessantly about my single book. I’ll only do that after I have 20,000 followers.

Unexpected Results

I’ve entered into a predicament I hadn’t excepted to face. Now that I’m a writer (gong sounds at the word) I find myself unable to read certain books.  No, I don’t mean I’ve become a society snob who only reads the finest literature in all the greatest social circles. Hardly. I actually have found I can’t read some books that I want to read right now. So why do I feel this way?

I’ll end up stealing from those books.

I’ll lift whole chunks of ideas and drop them in the story I’m writing, all while commending myself for creative brilliance. You see, I’m writing a Viking story. Unfortunately, due to the evil influence of Goodreads and Librarything, I’m discovering all sorts of awesome Viking stories out there.  But I know if I read these books while I’m trying to write a similar book, I’ll end up being imitative.

Even worse than imitation, reading others writers “doing my thing” will make me feel inadequate. I’ll end up thinking my characters weren’t as bad-ass as Harald Asskicker and Knut Smashteeth. I’ll undoubtedly uncover some point of history I got wrong, or some detail of the period I missed or screwed up.

It will all end up like going to the bar with your super-fit colleague from Marketing who meets all the eligibles in the place while you stumble about with your drink and try to act hip.

I do realize that imitation is unavoidable in this business, in any business actually. I know all the historical fiction studs like Cornwell and Scarrow and Pressfield have imitated others they admired. It’s all unconscious, and it’s the filtering of others’ ideas through their unique perspectives that make their stories new again. The same is true for me.

But in my case, I’d rather avoid a direct opportunity to be influenced while I’m writing. And to feel inadequate. So I guess I’ll read a quiet Regency romance while I finish up this series. No chance of being influenced unduly by that. Ugh.

The Ideal Book

I’m pounding away at the next book in Ulfrik Ormsson’s saga. I’ve come up with some working titles, most of which make me laugh. (I’ll have to share some of these stinkers after the book is out.) I’m trying to do more planning before writing.  I realized that I should plan what I would consider to be an ideal book.  Doesn’t that just make sense?

Of course it makes sense. But the larger problem, for me anyway, is defining my ideal book.

I started reviewing writer’s resources for guidance on things like word length, chapters, etc. I had some revelations about these resources that I’ll share in a moment.  I stopped looking outside myself and just considered what I’ve read and liked. Here’s what I came up with.

Book lengths between 275 -300 pages (somewhere between 80 -100k words)
Short chapters and/or scenes
First person narrators
Lots of physical action
Good cover art (hell I judge a book by its cover ALL THE TIME)
Part of a completed series

I felt that was a telling list. Half of what makes an ideal book for me is the physical aspects of it. Otherwise, I like action told from a first person viewpoint.  This was all I came up with, at least at the macro level and without getting into the details of genres. Genre specifics might be another topic one day.

Well, it is what it is. I like shorter books. I get bored by page 500 of an epic fantasy, reading about how the Snail People settled the plains of Dingolbutz over the course of the last century. All while the hero surveys the landscape grimly. I like short chapters and scenes because I feel like a genius covering all that ground while I read. I also read in short sessions throughout the day. Ending on a new scene is convenient when picking up again.

I could go on justifying everything in my list. But I discovered that those are my macro-level preferences. As such that’s how I’ll probably write and publish books as well.  I can’t do much about completing the series yet. (I’ll get there.)

Now as for those resources, I found that most of the stuff came from publisher “guidelines” on what certain genres were supposed to be like.  I found out that historicals need to clock in at 100 -120k words. I found out first person narration was discouraged for new writers. I found a lot of rules that shoehorn books into prefab forms.

My ideal historical novel by a new writer can’t really exist according to the “guidelines.”

This is where self-publishing really shines. You can write serious historicals that are “only 90,000 words.” A new writer can write in the first person (and hopefully be successful at it). Those guidelines that publishers demand now don’t count at all. Writers can tell the stories they want to tell, and readers can enjoy some variety.  No more will I have to read a 600 page fantasy novel puffed up with a guide to the runic language of the Beard-lords of Gumpgar, just so it can hit page requirements.

What do you think? Are you seeing some changes in your favorite genres?

Readers or Writers?

Well, I was just sweeping out a few tumbleweeds that blew through this blog and I had a thought. This site isn’t exactly a traffic magnet. But it is still early in the life cycle. So I’ll continue to post and someday when my audience finds this place I will have something for them to read.

But who is the audience, readers or writers? I read a lot of “indie author” blogs.  The typical indie author’s audience is other indie authors. They all pretty much blog about the same bits of writing advice. Let me help summarize.

Buy my book!
Use social media to drive sales
Don’t write a shitty book
Make your characters “believable” and “engaging”
Do a blog tour
Run a free promo
Don’t run free promos. They don’t work
Traditional publishing is for chumps
Buy my book!

So now I’ve run through a lifetime of blog posts in just this one bullet list. I suppose if my blog is for other authors then I’m done now. However, I’m not sure the indie author is my audience.

I think an author’s website should be geared primarily for the reader, and not other authors. The exception is probably for authors who write books on writing.  They get a pass. But honestly, if I visit a favorite writer’s site I want to hear about that author. If the author’s site is engaging and he or she has something interesting to say, I’ll keep coming back.

I’ll be honest, this is not a new debate in the writing blogosphere. I didn’t break new ground. I just decided that I’m going to cease with posts about writing process and writer concerns. Sure some of that may sneak in. But as a writer of historical fiction, this blog would be a great place to share my research into the background of my stories. That’s just an example. I can talk about work in progress and other things.

If you’re an indie author please don’t feel like you can’t come by here. All you have to do is read my book and now you’re a reader. Magic!

Version Control, or, What Do I Do Now?

So despite reading and re-reading my book, a professional edit, and a re-read after formatting, I’m still finding spelling errors or grammatical mistakes. These are not “onesy-twosey” things either. There are four errors in the first quarter of the book alone.

I am dismayed. It’s not like I didn’t check for these things until my eyes bled. There was blood. And there are still the mistakes. I wonder how I managed to ever string together a coherent sentence. At what point did I stop seeing these mistakes? I’d like to know so I don’t waste time and energy on the next book, since there seems to be a point where I don’t see what’s before me.

This brings me to the question of what to do. In the world of paper publishing, you are stuck. However,I have a chance to fix things. It’s simple enough to make the fixes, reformat, and upload again. But what if there are more errors to catch later on? When does this end, or does this end?

Since I’ve had some sales (whooooo hooooo!) those people will have a different version than what is currently uploaded. So there will be potentially multiple versions. Is that fair, even if if the difference is just corrections?

Part of me says I should just focus on moving ahead. I’m working on the next book, and I’d like to put my energy there rather than on what has gone before. But I’m just not sure. I hadn’t anticipated finding so many more mistakes, given how careful I thought I was being.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Wrangling Through Smashwords Formatting

Well, I’m learning about eBook formatting by leaps and bounds this week.  I’m am happy to announce to my reader(s) that the tour de force that is Fate’s Needle is now available on Smashwords.

The whole process was fairly painless, much like banging your funny bone.  That’s not really the normal pain you feel when you slam an appendage into a hard surface. It’s numbing and paralyzing, unpleasant and long-lasting. But it’s not painful, like being stabbed.

You do have to follow the Smashwords style guide. As you scroll through the endless white spaces of that PDF, you begin to suspect what your final product is going to look like. But overall, now that it’s all over, I think my final product looks good in the formats that I’ve reviewed.

I’ve learned that so much time can be saved in the process if I had just written my manuscripts in the format they want.  You are basically advised to use formatting styles to manage your document. If you do that, most of what you have to do for Smashwords prep work will be minimal.  Also, do yourself a favor and don’t do minimalist chapter headings like “Fourteen” or whatnot.  Stick the word “chapter” on each heading and you will be a happier person.

Once you’ve got the document set up like the style guide wants, the actual uploading was fast.  It converted to all major eBook formats and gave me the results of its “auto vetter” for inclusion in premium services.  Premium services, despite the name, are free and basically allows you to sell via all major online book sellers besides Amazon.  Pretty slick!

I got one error,which was a vestigial paragraph tab that I had not deleted.  It was just one that knocked me out.  However, this did not mean I wasn’t published.  I was.  I was just not ready for premium services. Once I fixed that little error I reloaded via my dashboard, repeated the same process, and was good to go.  I had to assign an ISBN, which Smashwords gives you for free and is only needed for premium services.

The whole process took me three hours to complete.  That’s because I had so much to fix. Now that I know what to do and how to prepare, next time will be faster.  I was even able to pick off another typo (how many will I continue to find, even after a million reads!) before uploading.  So this is a massively improved version! Go get it!  (I deleted an extraneous “the”; I think the whole book is a lot clearer for now.)

The Great Social Media Flim-Flam

The Great Social Media Flim-Flam.

So check this out. Just as I’ve worked all week to enmesh myself in social media!

What a breath of fresh air!  I have to say I agree here, and mostly because I’m a lazy bastard who doesn’t want to do all this stuff.  But also this all rings true with me. Celebrity doesn’t sell books. The story has to sell itself.  Just read this and see if you don’t agree.

Let’s Get This Show on the Road

How in the world did the Internet survive without another writing blog from a self-published author? Sensing the gap, I jumped in to fill it. You are safe now, and may continue to browse the Web. However, since you managed to land here why not read a few more lines?

I wrote a book. Hooray for me! I plan to do it again and continue doing it. I like historical adventure, fantasy, horror, and some sci-fi. So that’s what I’ll write about. I’ve always been a writer. I wrote a great book back in first grade; it was titled “The Murderers”. Haven’t heard of it? Well, I kept writing stories for a long time, then stopped. That’s the self-doubt thing I mentioned in my tag line. I’m starting to recover from it, and so here I am.

You’re still reading? Great! The new world of self-publishing is awesome in its potential and menacing in its practice. E-book publishing has opened doors that have been long closed. I’m running through that open door, albeit well after the euphoria has subsided. It looks to be a much tougher journey now. Naturally that’s the time I usually jump into these kinds of endeavors.

This blog will be a place to get in touch with my reader(s) and talk about what I’m doing with writing. This probably won’t be a place you come to get deep insight into self-publishing or craft. I’ll be lucky to stay out of my own way. Just learn from my mistakes, that’s about all I can tell you.

I mentioned I wrote a book. I’m going to figure out do the fancy linking to it on this blog. But if you’re just dying to read it, here’s a direct link to Fate’s Needle. I’ll do the whole “marketing thing” later. It’s a fun Viking adventure story with lots of action. It’ll keep you entertained for a few hours, I promise!