R.J. Blain's Blog, page 86

An Open Letter to the Agents Who Rejected Me

Dear Agents Who Rejected the Full of my Manuscript,

Thank you.

A few years ago, I got an invitation from you to submit the full of my novel after you had scouted me on a critiquing website. You made a revision list, I did the work, and it wasn’t what you were looking for. You had a lot of feedback. You invited me to submit one more time on those revisions.

I did the work, and it wasn’t what you were looking for.

Thank you for the opportunity. (Even if a few friends of mine had to quietly peel me off of the ceiling afterwards.)

I learned some valuable things from you, and from several other agents who also rejected the full of my manuscript. I learned that the publishing world, whether traditional or otherwise, is a ruthless place. It’s a hard place. It’s a competitive place.

I learned that it wasn’t about me. It was about my books, and they weren’t good enough. I learned that an agent could like me without liking my books. My book isn’t me.

It took me a few months (or more…) to really understand that, but I needed to learn. The opportunity lost still makes me wonder ‘what might have been’ but I am grateful you said no. I think I learned more from facing failure than I would have at outright encountering success.

I hear how you get flack over the whole rejection thing, and that it is the most onerous part of the traditional publication stint. I also hear how rejection helps make people stronger. Helps to grow thick skin. Improves a person.

It doesn’t, not unless the person is a little like me, and views it as a challenge. Then it’s great. Rejection just means I have to play harder, write better, be better. Some folks don’t get that. It’s okay. Some people don’t work like that, but I certainly do.

So, thank you for that kick in the ass. I needed it.

Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to make Storm Without End nearly as strong as it is today. It definitely wouldn’t have been strong enough to make one of amazon’s bestseller lists in position #10. Sure, I was the one who put in the effort, the sweat, the tears, and the blood to improve myself and my writing, but without you, I never would have realized I needed to put in the hard work. I never would have really and truly tried.

There is no pain quite like getting so close to a goal and failing.

Some people give up and walk away, burned. Others stand back up and try again. I still haven’t reached my dream of traditional publication, but I have accomplished things. I had to make my own way in the world, and it meant putting aside one dream for the main course: Becoming an author.

So, thank you for solidifying that traditional or self publishing wasn’t my actual goal, but that writing books was. That sharing my stories with anyone I can reach out to is the actual goal.

I still want to become a traditionally published author. It could still happen.

Maybe one day one of my manuscripts will find its way to your door again, and you’ll find we might work well together. Or not. We’ll have to see. It still twinges sometimes, when I think of ‘what might have been’. I do look at my sales and go, ‘this could have been 10,000 books’ instead of 100 books. Then I buckle up, lift my chin, and remember one thing:

100 can become 10,000, if I work hard enough, if I write well enough, and if I keep writing.

Thank you for making me really realize what my dream was, and giving me the strength to chase it down and try for it. Rejections can hurt. They stab the ego. They damage the esteem.

But, I overcame that, and I’m so much better for it, and I have you to thank, Agents. I don’t think I could have ever learned to take it to the next step without your rejections.

You may never know who you are. You probably don’t care — you have your real clients to work with, and I’m just one drop in the ocean. You probably won’t read this.

But, if you are an agent, and you do find this page, thank you.

You work hard so authors like me can shine.

Fondly,

RJ Blain

Amazon Rankings and Promotions

Today marks the first day of my very first countdown deals promotion. My promotion for Storm Without End is scheduled to run from 12:00 am December 09, 2013 to December 14 and 12:00 pm PST. This is 168 hours.

What is a countdown deal?

A countdown deal is a limited time promotion where amazon allows you to mark down your book in $0.99 increments (0.99, 1.99, 2.99 and so on…) over a set period of time. You can choose the number of days (up to 7) and the number of increments. Only KDP Select members can take advantage of this promotion type.

Unlike other royalty programs with Amazon, countdown deals use the royalty percentage of your novel at full price versus the percentage when the book is set to $0.99. So, if you sell your book at $5.99 normally, you have a 70% sales bracket, which means you’ll earn 70% of $0.99 instead of the normal 35%.

What to Watch Out For

If you have your book enrolled in other sites (like smashwords) and you want to become a KDP Select member to take advantage of countdown deals, you need to make certain that your novel is off of all other digital vendors before you enroll in KDP Select. While amazon will permit you into KDP Select, if your book has remnant presences on other sites, they will deny your countdown deal and you will have to wait until your next KDP Select cycle in three months.

Also, you can only run one countdown promotion per 90 day period.

The Impact of my Countdown Deal

My promotion has been running for 17 hours at the time of this posting, and I’m going to be bluntly honest about my sales figures and royalties.

Before the countdown promotion started, I had 3 sales and one lending library borrow of Storm Without End for the month of December.

Within the first 17 hours of the promotion, at $0.99, I earned 21 new sales.

So, what does this mean in terms of royalties?

3 sales earned me $12.42 in royalties. 21 promotional-rated sales has earned me $13.09 in royalties. So far, I’ve done a complete week worth of sales in the first day of my promotion. But the real benefit wasn’t necessarily in the sales, but rather in the increase of rank.

Impact on Ranking

After watching the ranks all day, and being familiar with what one sale at the $5.99 marker does, I’ve come to the conclusion that in order to get the same rank movement I need to sell ~5-6 copies at $0.99 to get the movement of one sale at $5.99. Mileage varies a little, as it’s little jumps versus one big jump — which actually does make a notable difference. So, let me clarify that. If five or six people bought Storm Without End at the exact same time, it would have the same impact as one sale at $5.99.

Before the promotion, I was riding at approximately 150,000-200,000 in ranking.

This is a screenshot of Storm Without End’s ranking during hour 17 of the promotion.

Prior to the promotion, I wasn’t listed on any top 100 lists at all, and at the time of this screenshot, this was the highest ranking the book had ever earned.

So, there are definitely short-term benefits to running a countdown promotion. What the long term benefits will be?

Only time will tell.

More tomorrow on the Countdown Deals promotion system.

A Year in the Life of a Full-Time Author

2014 will mark the first complete year of trying my hand at being a full-time author with an editorial side job. As such, I’m trying to plan my work in advance so my proofers are prepared for the reality of the insane things I’m trying.

I’m both excited and terrified. Without further ado, here’s my tentative schedule for 2014.

Wish me luck. I’ll need it. Better yet, send chocolate.

January 2014

Novel Goals

Finish Draft of Inquisitor
Draft 10,000 words of The City of Clocks
Draft 10 pages of Storm Surge
Draft 25 pages of Royal Slaves

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

February 2014

Novel Goals

Draft 5,000 words of The City of Clocks
Draft 10 pages of Storm Surge
Draft 50,000 words of Royal Slaves
Transcribe 3 Chapters of Inquisitor
Edit 3 Chapters of Inquisitor

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

March 2014

Novel Goals

Draft 5,000 words of The City of Clocks
Draft 10 pages of Storm Surge
Draft 50,000+ words of Royal Slaves - Finish
Transcribe 3 Chapters of Inquisitor
Edit 3 Chapters of Inquisitor

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

April 2014

Novel Goals

Draft 5,000 words of The City of Clocks
Draft 10 pages of Storm Surge
Transcribe Royal Slaves
Edit Royal Slaves
Send Royal Slaves to Rachel (Proofing Editor #1)
Transcribe 3 Chapters of Inquisitor
Edit 3 Chapters of Inquisitor

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

May 2014

Novel Goals

Draft 25,000 words of The City of Clocks
Draft 25,000 words of Storm Surge
Implement Edit Royal Slaves
Send Royal Slaves to Jenny (Proofing Editor #2)
Begin Formatting Royal Slaves
Transcribe 3 Chapters of Inquisitor
Edit 3 Chapters of Inquisitor

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

June 2014

Novel Goals

Draft 50,000 words of The City of Clocks - Finish
Draft 25 pages of Storm Surge
Implement Edits of Royal Slaves
Publish Royal Slaves 
Transcribe 3 Chapters of Inquisitor
Edit 3 Chapters of Inquisitor

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

July 2014

Novel Goals

Transcribe The City of Clocks
Draft 25,000 words of Storm Surge
Complete transcription of Inquisitor
Edit 3 Chapters of Inquisitor
Edit 10 Scenes of The City of Clocks

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

August 2014

Novel Goals

Edit The City of Clocks
Draft 25,000 words of Storm Surge
Send Rachel The City of Clocks
Edit Inquisitor

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

September 2014

Novel Goals

Implement Edits of The City of Clocks
Finish Storm Surge
Send The City of Clocks to Jenny
Send Inquisitor to Rachel

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

October 2014

Novel Goals

Implement Edits of The City of Clocks
Transcribe Storm Surge
Format The City of Clocks
Publish The City of Clocks
Implement Edits of Inquisitor
Send Inquisitor to Jenny
Edit Storm Surge
Send Storm Surge to Rachel

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

November 2014

Novel Goals

Implement Edits of Inquisitor
Format Inquisitor
Publish Inquisitor
Implement Storm Surge Edits
Send Storm Surge to Jenny

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

December 2014

Novel Goals

Implement Storm Surge Edits
Format Storm Surge
Publish Storm Surge

Editorial Goals

One first read/edit for a client
Complete any second reads that hit my inbox.

NaNoWriMo 2013 – Writing Challenges – Day 28, 29, and 30

NaNoWriMo Day 28, 29, and 30 Challenges

Word Challenge:  parturition

Definition:   The process of bringing forth young; the act or process of giving birth

Word Challenge:  esprit

Definition:  sprightliness of spirit or wit; lively intelligence

Word Challenge:  dissolution

Definition:  the act or process of resoling or dissolving into parts or elements; the resulting state; the undoing or breaking of a bond, tie, union, partnership, etc; the breaking up of an assembly or organization; dismissal; dispersal; an order issued by the head of a state terminating a parliament and necessitating a new election.

  Theme Challenge:  Birth, Life, and Death (The Cycle of Life)

 For the final three challenges, work in the entire cycle of life; birth, life, and death. It can be of one individual, of a family, or of connected individuals. That said, there should be a relation between these people so the entire cycle can be shown; the death of a complete stranger isn’t a part of your main character’s life cycle, for example. As a theme, show how the basic progression of life, from birth to death, impacts individuals and those close to them.

Plot Challenge:  The Life Cycle (as a plot)

 Incorporate the specific events of life in your plot; these need not be connected, as the theme challenge. One plot point should be birth, one plot point should be one of the ‘major events’ in a person’s life (marriage, house acquisition, moving, graduating school, becoming an adult, and so on) and the death of a character.

Tie each of these events to your current plot arcs.

Character Challenge:  Coping with Life

From the view point of one character, have them deal with all of the elements of life; you can have the main character observe the consequences of these elements on a friend or acquaintance. However, one character must deal with all three of these elements in life, preferably within a short period of time. Show how the character is impacted and changed as a result of these things.

Alternatively, you can repeat elements of life (One character dealing with three deaths close to them, for example…)

Conflict Challenge:  Tarot Readings, Ouija Boards, Crystal Balls, and Superstitions, Oh my!

Major events in people’s lives can cause a sudden and dramatic change of characteristics. One of your characters has snapped. Take one of your characters who is not typically into tarot readings, Ouija boards, and superstitions, and make them obsessed with the teachings and ideals of those who typically use these things.

Explore the major conflicts such a shift can cause in a group of people. Tie in the plot and character challenges for a little extra flair.

Build three conflicts relating to the use of these fortune telling tools. Explore Man vs Man, Man vs Nature, and Man vs society conflicts. (Man vs Man being disagreements between two individuals, man versus nature being a conflict between a character and the environment around him, and man vs society being the views of a group of people against his or her beliefs.)

Fun & Games: A Night on the Town

 Your characters, by now, are likely at the final stages of their adventure. Or, if you’re writing a full-length big fat fantasy, are right in the thick of things.

Your characters go out for a night on the town. Include three of the following elements:

Plundering, Mayhem, Arson, Concert, Movie Theater, Explosions the characters caused, Explosions the characters didn’t cause, drunken debauchery.

Let’s just say they really light up the town.

 

NaNoWriMo 2013 – Writing Challenges – Day 27

NaNoWriMo Day 27 Challenges

Word Challenge:  toothsome

Definition:  delicious; attractive; luscious

  Theme Challenge: Beauty

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Prove this theme through the unconditional love of something others view as ugly, unwanted, or otherwise unattractive. It can be the beauty seen in a human (IE, Hunchback of Notre Dame style or Beauty and the Beast) or the beauty of a particularly ugly animal, or even the beauty in a misshapen piece of artwork.

Plot Challenge:  Victory Lost & Second Chances

Your characters are on the verge of victory over some challenge. However, they get so cocky about it that their victory is lost. Give them a second chance, but give them a very low possibility of success. What do your characters do?

Character Challenge:  Crumbled Self Esteem

 Pick one of your characters with a notably strong self-esteem. Put them in a situation where their self-esteem is significantly damaged and see how this impacts the other characters.

Conflict Challenge:  Conflicted Objectives

In the later sections of a novel, it is not uncommon for characters to have conflicting objectives. Take a conflict point between two of your characters and bring it to the forefront. There is no room for compromise. Someone will win, someone will lose.

Pursue the consequences of this conflict.

Fun & Games: Determined to Disprove Science

 Your characters are feeling particularly snarky and set out to disprove science and fact. It doesn’t work, but they do make something explode. Explore what scientific fact they were attempting to disprove, and the resulting explosion.

NaNoWriMo 2013 – Writing Challenges – Days 23, 24, 25, and 26

Word Challenge:  wroth

Definition:  stormy; violent; turbulent :: angry; wrathful (usually predicatively)

  Word Challenge:  halcyon

Definition:  peaceful; undisturbed; happy

  Word Challenge:  gimcrack

Definition:  a showy but useless or worthless object

  Word Challenge:  adamant

Definition:  not susceptible to persuasion; unyielding

    Theme Challenge: The Virtues of Man (Cardinal)

 Pursue the four virtues of man (Using classical western Cardinal guidelines.). The virtues include Temperance, Prudence, Courage, and Justice.

You can use this with or without religious connotations.

Plot Challenge:  Quartet

Include a quartet of something, be it poets, musicians, singers, or artists, and create a plot point relevant to your novel surrounding each of these individuals. Try to include a quartet element to these plot points. (Example, you could use the theme challenges, you could use an elemental theme (fire, water, earth, air) or anything involving a theme of four.

Character Challenge:  

A character has been given four goats to take care of for a day. Goats are troublesome enough on their own. These four goats, however, embody the absolute worst characteristics of goats.

Temporarily or permanently ruin the relationships of four friends (or enemies) through the power of goats.

Conflict Challenge:

Create a conflict for your characters using four of the following seven deadly sins:

 Wrath
Greed
Sloth
Pride
Lust
Envy
Gluttony

Tie each of the sins together to create an overlaying conflict – bonus points if you match the sins to their cardinal virtual counterparts to enhance the theme.

Fun & Games:  Serial Graffiti Artist

 A graffiti artist is obsessed with the number four and groups of four. However, this artist has decided to play a game, using his art to form a riddle, a bit like a scavenger hunt. Have your characters decide to try to solve the artist’s puzzle.

NaNoWriMo 2013 – Writing Challenges – Days 21 and 22

NaNoWriMo Day 21 Challenges

Word Challenge:  protoplast

Definition:

Biology:  A. the contents of a cell within the cell membrane, considered as a fundamental entity. B. the primordial living unit or cell;

a person or thing that is formed first; original; prototype;

the hypothetical first individual or one of the supposed first pair of a species or the like.

  Theme Challenge:  The Need for Speed

One of your characters wants it fast and wants it now – show how haste can have both good and bad consequences on a character’s life.

Plot Challenge:  Driving too Fast

Your characters are in a hurry somewhere, drive too fast, and get into a car accident. Play with the consequences of what such an accident would do to your current plotline.

Character Challenge:  The Voice of Reason

Include someone who acts as the voice of reason – the catch? This character has cried wolf a few too many times. Pursue how someone might overcome this problem.

Conflict Challenge:  Cry Wolf

A character known for crying wolf knows something important. No one believes him or her. Deal with how this would bring conflict into the group.

Fun & Games: Cloning Experiment

 A character is cloned without their knowledge and is then forced to raise the young version of themself.

 

NaNoWriMo Day 22 Challenges

Word Challenge:  abecedarian

Definition:  pertaining to the alphabet; rudimentary; a beginner

  Theme Challenge: Start at Zero

 Friendships crumble apart. Sometimes they’re never recovered. Sometimes, however, people decide to start again from zero. Pursue the idea of rebooting and restarting a friendship from zero.

Plot Challenge:  Arsonist

Someone is setting fires. Most of them are harmless – trashcans outside of stores. But each one is growing in intensity… who is setting them? Why?

Your characters are driven to distraction because these fires are creeping closer and closer to home…

Character Challenge:  Nod to Your Inspirations

 Create a minor character loosely based off of a character from a fictional work that has inspired you. Make this character original to you and your work.

Conflict Challenge:  Pride & Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice are two characteristics of people known to cause a lot of problems. Write about your characters having to deal with both of these things within their close circle of friends.

Fun & Games: 11 foot pole

 Your characters acquire an 11 foot pole. They’re asked to watch over it. Its name is ‘Laddy’. What do they do with it?

NaNoWriMo 2013 – Writing Challenges – Day 20

NaNoWriMo Day 20 Challenges

Word Challenge:  pugnacious

Definition:  combative; quarrelsome

  Theme Challenge:  Degradation

All things crumble with time, including relationships, buildings, shorelines… write about the cause and consequences of degradation in your story; it can be within a relationship, or the state of physical objects.

Plot Challenge:  Velociraptors

Include a velociraptor or another dinosaur in your novel, making its presence a focal point of a plot element. (If you don’t want to raise extinct species from the grave, get creative with their bones, in museums, or at fossil digs…)

Character Challenge:  Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe…

 A character announces they are going to be getting married. Pursue how this can change the dynamics of a friendship – even if someone else loved the character and wanted to be with them.  Include all elements of the bride’s rhyme for good luck…

… and have nothing but bad luck happen to them and their fiancé.

Conflict Challenge:  Naughty Photographs

A stalker has taken to photographing one of your characters in photos that can be easily construed as naughty. They could be coming out of the shower at a public bath or spa, someone has installed hidden cameras in their bathroom… no matter how the culprit has acquired the photographs, use them to blackmail a character into something.

Fun & Games: Odd hobbies

 One of the most mature and responsible people in your cast is discovered to have a strange hobby. Hilarity ensues. (Example: The prim and proper secretary of a CEO participates in planking stunts while dressed up as a hipster.)

NaNoWriMo 2013 – Writing Challenges – Day 19

NaNoWriMo Day 19 Challenges

Word Challenge:  wanderlust

Definition:  the impulse to travel

  Theme Challenge: On the Road…

 Write about the impact of long-term travel on characters and the people they know. Does one of your characters travel for business? Have they been overseas for schools? Have they been in hospital for a long time? Write about the impact of separation on a character and their loved ones.

Plot Challenge:  Once Removed…

 A character is removed from the group of friends, be it for travel (see wanderlust), illness, or even death. Explore the dynamic of the group without this individual, and pursue both the immediate and long-term impact of their removal from the current plotline.

Have your characters consider how things might have gone differently if the missing person had been present.

Character Challenge:  Catch Phrase

 One of your characters develops a speech quirk or catch phrase – of a negative sort. Explore how such a catch phrase can impact the relationships of people, for better or worse.

Conflict Challenge:  Fire, Fire, Burning Bright…

Set something on fire and deal with the consequences of the fire. Your characters need not be the ones who started the fire. Yes, you may set one of your characters on fire. (For this challenge, clothes, hair, or even spontaneous combustion count.)

Fun & Games: Poetry

One of your characters picks up the hobby of writing bad poetry. Pursue.

Bonus: The character who has started the hobby of bad poetry writes a good poem and shocks everyone as a result.

NaNoWriMo 2013 – Writing Challenges – Days 16, 17, and 18

NaNoWriMo Day 16-17-18 Challenges

Sorry for being late with these — crazy weekend for me.

#1 Word Challenge:  Distrait

Definition:  divided or withdrawn in attention, especially because of anxiety

#2 Word Challenge:  Exegete

Definition:  one who explains or interprets difficult parts of a written work

#3 Word Challenge:  esurient

Definition:  hungry; greedy

Theme Challenge:  

Plot Challenge:  The Rule of Threes exists in many fields. Your challenge is to present three forms of the rules of threes as plot elements in your novel. Have each one of the rules of threes impact three different plotlines.

Bonus points if you manage to tie all three of the rules of threes (and their plots) together.

The Rule of Threes:

Writing: The Rule of Threes in writing suggests that when things appear in groups of three, they are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than when presented in other numbers.

Religious: (Wiccan) Also known as the Law of Return; Three-fold Law: The basics of the rule states that whenever someone does something (or puts energy into the world), be it positive or negative, it’ll come back to them three times. This is considered (by some) to be a variant of karma, although in karma’s originating religions, it doesn’t apply three times.

Aviation: For every 1,000 feet of descent, 3 miles should be travelled.

Medicine: In science (clinical trials, experiments) it is stated that the rule of three is if a certain event did not occur within a subject group, the chance of not suffering from adverse side effects is 95%. Essentially, if 300 parachutes are tested, and all of them deploy, it is given a 95% rating; or, according to the ‘rule of three’, fewer than 1/100 (or 3/300) chance.

There are fancy math formulas that determine the ‘three’ element of this rule, but it looks a little something like this: −ln(0.05) = ln(20) = 2.9957 ≈ 3.

Mathematical: The Rule of Three in mathematics is a version of shorthand cross multiplication. It’s rather notorious for being difficult to explain.

Programming: If a set of code is used three times in a program, it should be replaced with a new procedure.

Survival: (Averaged, extreme situations): 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food.

Character Challenge:  Threes Company

 Either by creating new characters or using old ones, create a three-way dynamic between a group of characters. This doesn’t mean a love triangle, although this is a potential option.

Ideally, you will create a personality wheel and select three character types from conflicting sections of the circle, with one character more of a median character. Alternatively, you can create characters with triplicate representations – ie, Ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Christmas Future….

These three characters must share something that ties them all together. They can’t be birds of a feather. They must contrast.

After all, water and gasoline might not mix, but if you add a little fire, cool things can happen.

Use this exercise as a way to delve deeper into the relationships between your characters.

Conflict Challenge:  The Past, the Present, the Future

#1: Create a minor plot event in your novel. Add it somewhere to the beginning or prior to the beginning of your novel as a past event. (If used in the beginning, it should be limited to the first scene of the book.)

This event should serve as a catalyst. It can be something simple, such as a character buys a nice pair of earrings she likes to wear often.

#2: How does the minor thing from the past impact the present? In the scene or chapter you are currently working on, include references to the thing from the past making an impact on the present. In the earring example, someone who really likes the earrings comments on them; these two characters could become friends…

#3: … in the future, towards the end of the novel, write about how a little event (like someone becoming friends over a pair of earrings) turns into something much bigger; tie the little event to the closure of the conflicts in your novels. (In the earrings example, the new friend can become a key player in the novel’s resolution – someone they never would have become friends with if the one character didn’t have their earrings…)

Fun & Games:

#1: Cursed by Pigeons: A flock of pigeons have taken to one of your characters. Pursue how this fiendish flock can ruin someone’s day (and the paint job on their car.)

#2: In for a Penny… a character keeps finding pennies on the ground. How does the character react to this? Does the trail of pennies lead to something interesting?

Bonus if you use this plot device in a place that no longer has pennies.

#3: Day trip to the zoo! Have your characters go wild.