Dane Cobain's Blog, page 24

Interview Yourself #11: Inspiration and Learnings

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, like these ones via The Wordsmith’s Forge.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about your subject/genre, that they need to know?

I think people need to know that I work across a bunch of different genres. They should expect different things from different books!

 

What inspires you?

I like to think that I sort of filter inspiration through from a bunch of different sources, from Netflix shows to dreams, music, books, friends and family. It’s hard to say where it comes from – it’s just there!

 

How did you get to be where you are in your life today?

Lots of hard work and antisocial evenings. Don’t ask me this question because I’m still not really sure where I am. Is anyone?

 

Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?  What impact have they had on your writing?

I read a wide variety of authors, but I’ve always admired the way that Charles Bukowski uses simple language to convey a lot of atmosphere and emotion. I don’t necessarily try to emulate that, but I do like keeping things relatively simple.

 

What did you find most useful in learning to write?  What was least useful or most destructive?

The best plan is to read and write as much as you can. I think even when something doesn’t feel useful at the time, it often pays back in the future.

 

Dane Cobain

 

Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?

I write in the evenings and weekends, but I want to transition into making a living out of it by the time that I’m thirty.

 

What are some day jobs that you have held? If any of them impacted your writing, share an example.

Since leaving university, I’ve worked in social media marketing. If you’ve read Former.ly or Social Paranoia then you’ll see how it’s affected it! But it’s also taught me some stuff about marketing that I’ve applied to promoting my own work.

 

For those interested in exploring the subject or theme of your book, where should they start?

Each of my books is so different that this is a hard one to answer. But if you’re new to my writing then I reckon Former.ly is as good as any.

 

How do you feel about ebooks vs. print books and alternative vs. conventional publishing?

Personally, I only read physical books, but ebooks have been useful when it comes to marketing because a lot of reviewers will accept them. When it comes to alternative versus conventional, both have their advantages and their disadvantages. But with conventional publishing, you’re guaranteed a certain amount of success because the marketing budgets are larger.

 

What do you think is the future of reading/writing?

I think we’re living through an interesting time, because the potential for innovation and new work is almost infinite and because readers are dictating the market more than ever before. There are going to be lots more amazing books out there, and a lot more awful ones. Only the readers will decide which ones we remember.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #10: Research and Writing

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, starting with these from Lawrence Wray and these ones via The Wordsmith’s Forge.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?

I suppose my intentions are usually just to entertain my existing readers while picking up new ones. I’ll have to think about this one and get back to you.

 

Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?

I do most of my research online, but I will say is that I’ll be tapping the intriguing brain of Pembroke Sinclair, author of Undead Obsessed, for an upcoming release. That’s all you’re getting, though. It’s all strictly(ish) under wraps.

 

What are some of the references that you used while researching this book?

Each book is different. The most notable book for this question is probably Social Paranoia, my non-fiction book about how to stay safe on social networking sites. I cited a lot of different articles and scientific studies, as well as things like YouTube videos and tweets.

 

What do you think most characterises your writing?

Just that it’s a little different. I’m on the more alternative side of things, and most people call my plots “unusual” or say that my books are quirky. I’ll take that.

 

What was the hardest part of writing this book?

I think the hardest part about writing any book is getting people to read it after you’ve finished it. It’s just one of the struggles that indie writers have to face.

 

Dane Cobain

 

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Recently, I’ve just been enjoying the actual writing process – working on the first draft and just getting the words down. But it tends to vary depending upon my mood.

 

Are there vocabulary words or concepts in your book that may be new to readers? Define some of those.

I guess there were a few relatively obscure ones in Social Paranoia, my non-fiction book. Stuff like fraping and FOMO. You can click the links to let UrbanDictionary.com define them for you.

 

Are there underrepresented groups or ideas featured if your book?  If so, discuss them.

None that I went out of my way to include. Lately, I’ve been paying more attention to the role of women in my books, but more so that someone doesn’t complain about it and/or get annoyed. As a male, I think it’s easy to slip into cliche and to underrepresent women out of sheer carelessness, and I don’t want that to happen. But it doesn’t really affect the story lines. Someone mentioned the gender disparity in a review of Former.ly, which was interesting. I’d deliberately included a gender disparity because I wanted it to be true to life. Sad but true.

 

Are there misconceptions that people have about your book?  If so, explain.

I think a lot of people have unfair perceptions of indie authors. All it takes is one bad experience with an indie book to ruin your perceptions of it forever. Some indie books are terrible. Others are incredible.

 

What is the biggest thing that people THINK they know about your subject/genre, that isn’t so?

I think people think I sell more books than I do. I don’t sell many books. But I have a lot of readers. Work that one out.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #9: The Past and the Future

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, starting with these from Lawrence Wray and these ones via The Wordsmith’s Forge.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Stick at it – and be prepared for lots of long nights where it feels like you’re getting nowhere.

 

Where do you see publishing going in the future?

I think the market will always dictate whether authors sell well. The internet just adds even more power to the consumer. Writing an awesome book isn’t enough anymore – you need to get the word out about it, too.

 

How can readers discover more about you and you work?

They can check out my Amazon and Goodreads pages, sign up to my mailing list or follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

 

How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?

That’s a tough one to answer because I write in multiple different genres. But a few of them examine social networking, which I deal with during my day job as a social media marketer.

 

Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?  If you write more than one, how do you balance them?

To tell the truth, I don’t even think about genres. I just write the story that I have and then worry about the genre when it comes to marketing.

 

Dane Cobain

 

Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?

It’s hard to tell because I’ve loved it for so long. But I was always surrounded by books and readers from an early age.

 

How long have you been writing?

I’ve been writing since I was fourteen or fifteen, so for half of my life.

 

What kind(s) of writing do you do?

I write in all sorts of different genres. I tend to write books that I want to read, and I like to read all sorts of different genres.

 

What cultural value do you see in writing/reading/storytelling/etc.?

I think for writers, it’s often cathartic, and for readers, it broadens the mind. And for both of them, it’s infinitely rewarding.

 

How does your book relate to your spiritual practice or other life path?

I don’t know if I have one – I’m not a ‘spiritual‘ person. It probably shows in my writing.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #8: Favourites and the Future

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, starting with these from Lawrence Wray.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What is your favourite motivational phrase.

“Never get out of bed before noon.” – Charles Bukowski

 

What is your favourite positive saying?

I struggle with these. Another Bukowski quote? “We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”

 

What is your favourite book and why?

Whenever someone asks me this, I tell them that it’s Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman. Incredible book.

 

What is your favourite quote?

Stop asking me these! Let’s see, another one. “Find what you love and let it kill you.” – Charles Bukowski.

 

What is your favourite film and why?

I don’t tend to re-read or re-watch things anymore. I guess I’d go for something like Donnie Darko.

 

Dane Cobain

 

Where can you see yourself in 5 years time?

Hopefully making a living solely from my writing, preferably with a best-seller or two under my belt. I reckon I’ll have at least a dozen new books out by then.

 

What is your favourite movie and why?

And this is different to ‘favourite film‘ because…? I guess I’ll go for Wayne’s World II, one I loved as a kid.

 

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Just stick at it. You’ll get there. Maybe work a little harder if you can, though.

 

Which famous person, living or dead would you like to meet and why?

Tough one! I guess maybe someone like Tom Waits, who’s just multitalented and a modern day renaissance man. I bet the conversation would be fascinating.

 

If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?

Probably Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, just because it’s beautiful.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #7: Marketing and Trailers

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, starting with these from Lawrence Wray.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

Is there any marketing technique you used that had an immediate impact on your sales figures?

I can’t think of any one single thing that boosts sales any more than another. Physical launch parties always work well, but then it’s hard to sell books as an indie author to begin with.

 

Did you make any marketing mistakes or is there anything you would avoid in future?

Nothing that I can think of, but then I work in marketing and so I like to think that I know what I’m doing. I think the main thing to worry about is the time investment – you just need to make sure that you’re not investing huge amounts of time into something that isn’t working.

 

Why do you think that other well written books just don’t sell?

It’s just the way of the world. It’s always been a problem – just think how many great authors there must have been fifty years ago who were overlooked by agents and publishers. At least now, in the era of the internet, people have the ability to reach out directly to readers. But there will always be rubbish at the top of the bestseller lists, and there will always be gold that no one’s aware of.

 

What do you think of “trailers” for books?

I’ve made one for each of mine. They don’t tend to lead to direct sales, but they do help to bring a book to life for your readers, and sometimes they’ll help you to reach new readers, too.

 

Do you have a trailer or do you intend to create one for your own book/s?

You can view each of the trailers here:

No Rest for the Wicked
Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home
Former.ly
Social Paranoia
Come On Up to the House

 

Dane Cobain

 

Do you think that giving books away free works and why?

I do it quite often. It helps you to reach new readers, and they in turn might tell their friends or their relatives, which leads to new sales in turn. Plus, a lot of the free readers leave reviews that then bring new people in.

 

Did you format your own book?

Mostly, yeah. Although part of the formatting is also overseen by Pam Elise Harris, my editor. She’s not necessarily working on it, but she’ll let me know if she spots something.

 

In what formats is your book available?

They’re available in print form and in epub, mobi and pdf formats for e-readers.

 

If formatted by someone else, how did you select them and what was your experience?

My first two books – No Rest for the Wicked and Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home – were formatted by Adam Bodendick when I was with Booktrope. I basically took that formatting style and ran with it, customising it as necessary, for my later, self–published releases.

 

How do you relax?

I don’t. I have a poem called ‘Relaxing‘ which covers it. I’m at my most relaxed when I’m at home, in front of my computer, working.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #6: Thoughts On Reviews

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, starting with these from Lawrence Wray.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

What do you do to get book reviews?

I beg my readers to leave them, and I contact a lot of bloggers to ask them to read them. I also use a few services like BloggersRequired, which send prospective readers and reviewers directly to my inbox.

 

How successful has your quest for reviews been so far?

Reasonably successful, I think. I certainly see a lot of other books with fewer reviews. But I could always use more!

 

Do you have a strategy for finding reviewers?

Not really, other than reminding people a lot. I also hope that if I share enough existing reviews, it’ll encourage people to come forward with more of them.

 

What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews?

As long as they contain constructive feedback, that’s okay. Even the best writers get bad reviews. I try to learn what I can from the criticism. The only ‘bad’ reviews are the ones that are thinly veiled personal attacks.

 

Any amusing story about marketing books that happened to you?

Nothing that I can think of, really. I guess the best story is the time I went to visit the Second City Signing in Birmingham in my role as a book manager for J. G. Clay. I shot a video about that and you can watch what happened here.

 

Dane Cobain

 

What’s your views on social media for marketing?

I do it for a living, and so I guess they’re pretty positive. If you read Former.ly or Social Paranoia, you’ll get a good idea of how I feel about it.

 

Which social network worked best for you?

I think they all work well, in different ways. Facebook is probably the most useful, just because I can use it for both a personal page and a company page. They both help in different ways.

 

Any tips on what to do and what not to do?

Use auto-DMs on Twitter. Or automate in general, for that matter.

 

Did you do a press release, Goodreads book launch or anything else to promote your work and did it work?

I’ve tried a bunch of different things. I find that physical launch parties and online events can work well, but I generally try different stuff depending upon what the book is about.

 

Did you get interviewed by local press/radio for your book launch?

Not specifically for a book launch, but I have been interviewed by a couple of local radio stations and had my name in the press here and there. Plus I appeared on Pointless, which is a pretty big quiz show here in the UK. That was a thing.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #5: Shoutouts for Steph

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, starting with these from Lawrence Wray.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

Tell us about the cover/s and how it/they came about.

Most of my covers follow the same format – I work with a designer to come up with concepts, we start out with three different designs and then start to hone in on the final concept. The exception is the No Rest for the Wicked cover, which didn’t really need any amends on my end, and the Former.ly cover, which was part designed by Michelle Fairbanks of Fresh Design and half-designed by myself.

 

Who designed your book cover/s?

A very talented designer called S. L. Stacker, who’s also an author in her own right! I’d recommend checking some of her stuff out.

 

Do you think that the cover plays an important part in the buying process?

Yeah – it’s quite often what first catches the eye of potential readers, and you also need to drum it in to your regular readers until they see it in their sleep. Alongside the blurb, it’s the most important thing there is to get people to pick it up and start reading.

 

How are you publishing this book and why?

No Rest for the Wicked is published by Dragon Moon Press, an indie publisher. The rest of my books are self-published through CreateSpace.

 

What would you say are the main advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published or the other way around?

I haven’t seen much of a difference between being published by indie authors and self-publishing. The main advantage of signing with a major publisher is that they’ll help with marketing budget and the like. As an indie, one of the best things I’ve found is that it can be pretty cheap to order physical copies – I make around a 100% markup for each copy I sell, much more than I make through royalties from online sales.

 

Dane Cobain

 

How do you market your books?

I do a little bit of everything – I’m all over the internet, me. I use social media sites, promote stuff through my book blog and have a mailing list, and I do a lot of blogger outreach as well. I also have a presence at some local events, including Sunday Assembly High Wycombe – where I’m the poet in residence – and at a monthly spoken word night that I organise.

 

Why did you choose this route?

I basically try everything I can think of to get the word out, so the main reason I try this route is because it’s an aggregation of every single different route that I can think of.

 

Would you or do you use a PR agency?

I do some of it myself. My first ‘real‘ job after finishing university was at a PR agency, and so I picked some bits up that I’ve been able to put into practice. I wouldn’t use an agency, though – too expensive for what you get, and PR coverage often doesn’t actually lead to direct sales.

 

Do you have any advice for other authors on how to market their books?

Try everything, and then try it again. Measure what works – in the form of getting your book into readers’ hands – and don’t discount giving away free copies if it’s likely to get the results you need.

 

What part of your writing time do you devote to marketing your book?

I use a productivity routine – called The Schedule™, which I wrote about here – and work it in alongside other stuff. It’s hard to tell exactly how much time I spend on marketing, but I suspect it averages out as at least an hour or two per day.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #4: Shoutouts for Pam

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, starting with these from Lawrence Wray.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

Do you ever get writer’s block?

Luckily, I work on so many different projects at once that I never get writer’s block. I can just switch to a different activity.

 

Any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block?

If it is writer’s block, start a new project so that you can work on that if you get stuck on your other piece. Just don’t forget to go back to it! If you’re just tired, get coffee.

 

If this book is part of a series, tell us a little about it?

I’m currently working on Netflix & Kill, which is the second book in the Leipfold detective series. It follows private detective James Leipfold and his assistant, Maile O’Hara, as they try to solve crimes while making a profit – or breaking even at the very least.

 

What are your thoughts on writing a book series.

It’s never something that I’d really thought of until a year or so ago. I always thought that people wrote a series because they didn’t have any new ideas, but I guess that’s not the case. Leipfold and Maile still have plenty of adventures left in them – and plenty of backstory to explore while they’re at it – and so I think I’ll be doing that for a while to come. But in the meantime, I do like writing standalones, and so I’m planning a few of those to work on while the Leipfold books are in editing.

 

Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors.

I’m like Bob Dylan’s Mr. Jones – “very well read, it’s well known”. I run a book blog called SocialBookshelves.com and have reviewed over a thousand books. Some of my favourite authors include Charles Bukowski, Graham Greene and Terry Pratchett.

 

Dane Cobain

 

For your own reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books?

I only read physical books. I collect them after I read them.

 

What book/s are you reading at present?

At the time of writing, I’m around 850 pages into The Stand by Stephen King. 500 pages to go.

 

Do you proofread/edit all your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?

I work with Pam Elise Harris, my editor and partner-in-crime, and we usually make two or three passes over the book for rewrites, copyediting and the like. Then I have a final pass of my own to pick up any lingering errors.

 

Do you let the book stew – leave it for a month and then come back to it to edit?

I usually have to because I need to schedule it in with Pam. I also make my own initial pass after writing before sending it over to go into edits. No Rest for the Wicked lay around for five years or so before it was published.

 

Who edited your book and how did you select him/her?

Pam Harris – brap brap! Pam actually approached me back in the Booktrope day – before my old publisher went bust and I had to go back to being an indie author – because she wanted to work with me on Former.ly. I was so impressed with her work that I kept her on after Booktrope, and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Interview Yourself #3: My Writing Process

Hi, folks! Today, I’m continuing with a new, unique series of posts. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be interviewing myself using pre-written questions from other blog sites, starting with these from Lawrence Wray.

It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for me to reveal a little bit more about myself, my writing and my habits. Are you ready? Good – let’s get started.

 

 

Do you write every day, 5 days a week or as and when?

I write as often as possible. I write something or other every day. Even when I’m on holiday, I take a notebook and keep a journal. I also write poems most days, and I try to do a little bit of work at the computer every evening.

 

Do you aim for a set amount of words/pages per day?

I aim to write an average of 1,000 words per day on my WIP (work in progress), but I also keep a journal and run my book blog on top of that.

 

Do you write on a typewriter, computer, dictate or longhand?

I mostly write at a computer, although I write my journal by hand and also carry a notebook around. Most of my poems are written by hand, and I wrote my first few books by hand until I realised it took literally three or four times longer to finish them.

 

Where do the your ideas come from?

It’s hard to say – they usually start as a little spark and then grow and evolve over time. A fair few of them have been developed off the back of dreams that I had, or little thoughts that whizzed through my head while I was lying in bed. Sometimes I write them down, but most of the time I assume that if I still remember the ideas in the morning, it was a good idea.

 

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

I have an outline and some rough character profiles, but I tend to change the story line as I’m writing it. Sometimes, the changes are minor. Sometimes they’re not.

 

Dane Cobain

 

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

Funnily enough, I recently wrote a guest blog for another site about the evolution of my writing and you can read it right here. But overall, I think I’ve matured and improved over the years. Practice makes perfect and all that.

 

What is the hardest thing about writing?

Getting people to buy your books once you’ve finished them. Unless you have a major deal with one of the big publishers, convincing readers to actually *buy* your books is always going to be one of the hardest things. There’s so much choice on the market that it’s difficult to cut through the noise.

 

What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?

I can’t think of anything, really. I’ve written 40,000 words in a month and really enjoyed the process. It’s been easy. It’ll probably come back down to getting people to read it once it’s on the market.

 

What is the easiest thing about writing?

The writing itself. It’s fun, and it feels a lot like scratching an itch. As long as I have a computer and some time to do it, I’ll write.

 

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

It’s difficult to answer this one. Former.ly took three years, Eyes Like Lighthouses was written over the period of a couple of years, and No Rest for the Wicked had a gap of about five years between writing and publication. My current work in progress should take less than three months from start to finish. On average? It used to be a couple of years and that’s now down to three months.

 

Dane Cobain – Come On Up to the House

 

So there we have it – that’s the latest instalment of Interview Yourself over and done with! Thanks, as always, for reading, and be sure to keep your browser pointed to DaneCobain.com. You can also sign up to my mailing list, follow me on Facebook and Twitter or check out my books for further info. I’ll see you soon!

Status Report: February 2017

Hi, folks! Just a quick update today to let you know where I am with things. I guess the website is the first natural thing to mention, so let’s do this.

DaneCobain.com has been falling behind the times of late, and so I’ve been hatching plans to revitalise it. That will involve a general cleanup, as well as a new look and feel and a plan to develop it into the future. Realistically, in a year’s time or so, I’m hoping that the site will be completely different, and that it’ll represent me in the way that I want it to represent me. But I’m working hard behind the scenes on that.

In the meantime, I’m doing some more commissioned work (so email me if you want to pay me to write for you) and I’ve also been working on a few different projects. Here’s where I am with those:

Subject Verb Object: An anthology of new writing from 21 different authors. I’m editing and collecting it and expect it to be on sale in early April.
Driven: The first book in the Leipfold series of detective novels. Currently in editing with Pam Harris and due for release in Autumn.
Netflix & Kill: The sequel to Driven. Currently 50k words into the first draft.
Kiss Kiss Death Death: A poetry book, and the sequel to Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home . Half written/memorised and due out in 2018.
Meat: In the planning stage. Very hush hush. Very political. You’ll like it.
Oceanus: Another poetry book, mostly ready, half memorised but on hold.

Looking at that list, it seems a little short, and so I’m pretty sure that I have more projects on the go than that. But that’s a pretty good starter for ten, and I have about a million other things to do and so you’re going to have to settle for it…for now.

So, as always, thanks a lot for reading, and don’t forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for further updates. You can also click here to check out my books on Amazon. I’ll see you soon!