Kevin P. Sheridan's Blog, page 2
February 28, 2015
Read it outloud!!
Final phase of editing before releasing it to the public in book form, and this, my friends, is the single most important part. Read your entire book out loud. Pretend you're making an audio book. Do voices if you want. Mumble on the bus to work like I did for two weeks straight. It's ok. It's winter. Throw on a tattered hoodie and forget to shower and people just think you're a crazy person.
Why is it so important?
Because our brilliant mind can auto-translate and buzz over misspelled words without us even knowing it. Reading your book isn't good enough, because the mind works too well and efficiently: you need to slow yourself down, and reading out loud does that. It forces you to go line by line.
Take, for example, this little beauty I picked up in my own book after reading it to myself, oh, seven or eight times:
I pulled Bill back a bit. “What the hell are you doing?”“Giving you a chance,” Bill said.“Yeah, but this isn’t really a ‘giving you a chance’ kinda moment. This is serious stuff.”“Do you honestly think there’s anything out there you can’t handle? Worse than the lake? Worse than what you told me about in Pittsburgh? You’ve seen the worst nature has to offer, and you’re still here. Anyone who can cover the ground you’ve covered, keeping his team intact, is ok with me.”I stood there, frozen and confused. Me? I looked around the room. Ashley didn’t smile, she just put her two pistols into her jeans. “He’s right,” she said.Louie looked down at his shoes. “I don’t want to go with anyone else.”Tommy hoisted his sniper rifled on his shoulder and gave me a nod. The general shook his head. “Not these three. Bill - for chrissakes, they’re just kids.”“Not anymore sir. They stopped being kids a long time ago.”No argument from anyone. The room grew quiet. “Fine. Bill, you’re in charge, Dawson’s second in command. Get those people organized and get ‘em ready. Let’s move.”
Did you catch it? Don't feel bad if you didn't, like I said I buzzed over it seven or eight times. Spell check accepted it because it's a real word (although it doesn't make any sense in context), and my mind saw it and instantly dismissed it because it knew what it should've said.
If you read it out loud, you go line by line. Slowly. And then you catch it:
Tommy hoisted his sniper rifled on his shoulder and gave me a nod.
RIfled. A d. One simple letter that doesn't belong.
There were plenty of other examples that I caught by reading the book out loud. It does take time, it slows you down to a crawl and burns inside your "get this thing out as quickly as you can" center, but it's well worth it. Trust me.
So read it out loud, and WRITE ON!
Why is it so important?
Because our brilliant mind can auto-translate and buzz over misspelled words without us even knowing it. Reading your book isn't good enough, because the mind works too well and efficiently: you need to slow yourself down, and reading out loud does that. It forces you to go line by line.
Take, for example, this little beauty I picked up in my own book after reading it to myself, oh, seven or eight times:
I pulled Bill back a bit. “What the hell are you doing?”“Giving you a chance,” Bill said.“Yeah, but this isn’t really a ‘giving you a chance’ kinda moment. This is serious stuff.”“Do you honestly think there’s anything out there you can’t handle? Worse than the lake? Worse than what you told me about in Pittsburgh? You’ve seen the worst nature has to offer, and you’re still here. Anyone who can cover the ground you’ve covered, keeping his team intact, is ok with me.”I stood there, frozen and confused. Me? I looked around the room. Ashley didn’t smile, she just put her two pistols into her jeans. “He’s right,” she said.Louie looked down at his shoes. “I don’t want to go with anyone else.”Tommy hoisted his sniper rifled on his shoulder and gave me a nod. The general shook his head. “Not these three. Bill - for chrissakes, they’re just kids.”“Not anymore sir. They stopped being kids a long time ago.”No argument from anyone. The room grew quiet. “Fine. Bill, you’re in charge, Dawson’s second in command. Get those people organized and get ‘em ready. Let’s move.”
Did you catch it? Don't feel bad if you didn't, like I said I buzzed over it seven or eight times. Spell check accepted it because it's a real word (although it doesn't make any sense in context), and my mind saw it and instantly dismissed it because it knew what it should've said.
If you read it out loud, you go line by line. Slowly. And then you catch it:
Tommy hoisted his sniper rifled on his shoulder and gave me a nod.
RIfled. A d. One simple letter that doesn't belong.
There were plenty of other examples that I caught by reading the book out loud. It does take time, it slows you down to a crawl and burns inside your "get this thing out as quickly as you can" center, but it's well worth it. Trust me.
So read it out loud, and WRITE ON!
February 16, 2015
Time for an updated life
Having gotten Under a Broken Sun ready for prime-time (i.e. self-published soft cover via CreateSpace), it's time to update my Goodreads profile, as well as any other websites and blogs I have out there. Fun stuff. Look for a giveaway of the soft-cover copy, autographed by me (which is good as I'm the author) or autographed by any member of my family that you choose (dogs and cats excluded, of course). For my updates I'm following the latest Writer's Digest suggestions, but keeping true to myself, lest I become just another self-published genius madman out there in the world.
For a review of CreateSpace and how it's helped me, check out my blog here.
For a review of CreateSpace and how it's helped me, check out my blog here.
February 4, 2015
How to spot a "show don't tell" violation
More revisions? Like to find those areas you could improve, like searching for the word "was"?
Search for any narration that includes distance. Words like "about", "miles", "feet", "yards".
These are boring descriptions that leave the reader trying to imagine what 100 yards really looks like. Ever notice how many times people refer to football fields when talking about distance? It's because we can visualize a football field.
About is usually a dead give away, unless you're describing what something is about. And again, it's ok for characters to use this, as people do this all the time, but the narrator shouldn't. It's just boring, because we're not interested in metrics or area or what have you.
For Example:
The road stretched for about two miles ahead of us. First of all, I can't visualize two miles, because even in the flattest heartland of Kansas, you may not be able to actually see two miles. But regardless, this is boring. The road stretched out ahead of us until it shrank into itself on the horizon gives you a better visualization. When Andy Dufrane crawled through a half-mile of the foulest smelling shit you could think of, Stephen King made sure we knew that was "five and half football fields".
That's a long way.
If something is about a hundred yards away, you could say the person of interest was so far away they appeared slightly larger than my thumb. Or Jim Lovell used to block out the moon with the tip of his thumb, indicating how far away something that big was.
How deep is the ocean? Don't answer in miles. Someone going two miles below the surface of the ocean is hard to visualize. Someone going so deep in the ocean that the sun, without a single cloud to block it, vanished like God had pulled the string and clicked it off, is in pretty deep.
A little flowery, I know, but you get the point. Watch for places where your narrator is telling us about distances and you'll find plenty of gold pieces you just need to dust off.
So? Go get crackin' and WRITE ON!
Search for any narration that includes distance. Words like "about", "miles", "feet", "yards".
These are boring descriptions that leave the reader trying to imagine what 100 yards really looks like. Ever notice how many times people refer to football fields when talking about distance? It's because we can visualize a football field.
About is usually a dead give away, unless you're describing what something is about. And again, it's ok for characters to use this, as people do this all the time, but the narrator shouldn't. It's just boring, because we're not interested in metrics or area or what have you.
For Example:
The road stretched for about two miles ahead of us. First of all, I can't visualize two miles, because even in the flattest heartland of Kansas, you may not be able to actually see two miles. But regardless, this is boring. The road stretched out ahead of us until it shrank into itself on the horizon gives you a better visualization. When Andy Dufrane crawled through a half-mile of the foulest smelling shit you could think of, Stephen King made sure we knew that was "five and half football fields".
That's a long way.
If something is about a hundred yards away, you could say the person of interest was so far away they appeared slightly larger than my thumb. Or Jim Lovell used to block out the moon with the tip of his thumb, indicating how far away something that big was.
How deep is the ocean? Don't answer in miles. Someone going two miles below the surface of the ocean is hard to visualize. Someone going so deep in the ocean that the sun, without a single cloud to block it, vanished like God had pulled the string and clicked it off, is in pretty deep.
A little flowery, I know, but you get the point. Watch for places where your narrator is telling us about distances and you'll find plenty of gold pieces you just need to dust off.
So? Go get crackin' and WRITE ON!
January 19, 2015
Search for the WAS
How to find weak writing in your manuscript? Search for the word WAS.
Most of the time, as I'm going through my book, I find this word describing something, which is the antithesis to the "Show, don't tell" mantra. It definitely tells, most of the time.
When I find it, usually there are three things that are happening:
I'm being lazy, and can beef up the action verb more. "The sun was setting", for example, versus "the setting sun exploded color...". The verb went from "was" to "exploded" which is much more engaging.I'm using the passive voice. Never good. "The building was blown up by the militants" instead of "the militants destroyed the building". Again, a more exciting action verb.I'm trying to use a metaphor, but again, being lazy: "she looked at me like I was crazy" as opposed to "she stared at me like my head had just sprung open and butterflies flew out".
HOWEVER, there are times when I keep the WAS in.In dialogue. Yes, it's not as exciting, but that's how people speak. Take any of the three items above and put quotes around it, and you've just made your teen sound like a Harvard grad.When it's require for past-perfect tense. Like when a character is rehashing an event prior to the one they're in, or when they're remembering something. "I remember he was running down the corridor" is perfectly ok because it's part of the past perfect tense. So I'm searching through my manuscript now and every time I see a "was" I look for these different items. This is when the rubber meets the road, where your writing skills are really tested. This is where an author could spend an hour on a single sentence. This is what separates the pros from the unpublished. So get searching, and
WRITE ON!
Most of the time, as I'm going through my book, I find this word describing something, which is the antithesis to the "Show, don't tell" mantra. It definitely tells, most of the time.
When I find it, usually there are three things that are happening:
I'm being lazy, and can beef up the action verb more. "The sun was setting", for example, versus "the setting sun exploded color...". The verb went from "was" to "exploded" which is much more engaging.I'm using the passive voice. Never good. "The building was blown up by the militants" instead of "the militants destroyed the building". Again, a more exciting action verb.I'm trying to use a metaphor, but again, being lazy: "she looked at me like I was crazy" as opposed to "she stared at me like my head had just sprung open and butterflies flew out".
HOWEVER, there are times when I keep the WAS in.In dialogue. Yes, it's not as exciting, but that's how people speak. Take any of the three items above and put quotes around it, and you've just made your teen sound like a Harvard grad.When it's require for past-perfect tense. Like when a character is rehashing an event prior to the one they're in, or when they're remembering something. "I remember he was running down the corridor" is perfectly ok because it's part of the past perfect tense. So I'm searching through my manuscript now and every time I see a "was" I look for these different items. This is when the rubber meets the road, where your writing skills are really tested. This is where an author could spend an hour on a single sentence. This is what separates the pros from the unpublished. So get searching, and
WRITE ON!
January 11, 2015
3 Fears That Keep Writers from Writing
Ok, these are my three, and I'm no psycho-analytical genius, so take them for what they're worth. But c'mon, every one of us that has either not been published or has self-published have stopped writing at some point, right? We may call it writer's block, but there's something deeper than just trying to figure out another word for "like".
We're afraid.
Of what, you may ask? Why, if I love writing the way I do, would I possibly be so afraid as to STOP writing? You can't be published if you stopped writing. In fact, 100% of all unfinished novels that have never seen the light of day are UNPUBLISHED (that one's a fact.)
So why do we stop writing?
1. FEAR OF SUCCESS.
This is a weird one, so I thought I'd throw it out first. What does Fear of Success mean? Who the heck would ever be afraid of success? Money, fame, fortune, a beautiful model on each arm (depending on the tolerance level of your spouse). Sounds great, right?
Wrong. What does Success really entail? CHANGE. Imagine your book finally getting published. Selling. Through the proverbial roof, in fact. What does that mean? Changes to your lifestyle. And I don't mean a brand new Porsche. I mean possibly quitting your job. Having to look for health insurance as a self-employed individual. If you have kids, it might mean less time with them. More time writing, but with greater, stricter deadlines. Flights to weird places. Book signings. Marketing work, all while you still try to hang on to your crummy day job that you can't wait to quit but you have to keep because the royalties from last month just paid for a new printer and not much else.
How do you overcome this? You face the fear, you imagine your life as a success, and you plan for it. You organize your future life to understand what the change will mean, and make the change less of a scary "oh my God my life will be totally turned upside down" and more of a "man I can't wait."
Fear gone. Until it's replaced by:
2. FEAR OF FAILURE.
Yes, this is something that every author has so I won't bog you down with clichés and obvious points. You know what this means. You know how it feels. You see the rejection letters, hear the "It was good" reviews from your closest friends, and you know you've just dropped your drawers in front of three agents at a writer's workshop and had each of them laugh at you. You've failed.
So how do you overcome it? EXPECT FAILURE. Welcome it. Relish the rejection letters, and never accept a critique of "it was pretty good". Failure means progression, pure and simple. Without it, you can't recognize what needs to change. Without it, you only know you're NOT doing something. Like Edison famously once said, "I didn't fail 1000 times, I found 1000 ways to NOT make a light bulb". Find those ways. Don't, of course, drive yourself to failure. That'd be silly. But realize each time you think you've failed, that you're a real writer.
And then, you'll only be left with:
3. THE FEAR OF EXPOSING YOURSELF
This is an altogether different type of fear, based on the reason WHY you're writing. We write because we love the act of creating worlds, characters, being charge, playing God, whatever. But really, deep down inside, we write because we have something to say. My author friends, the published ones, have written very personal narratives that touch on social issues they feel people need to be aware of. K.M. Walton's CRACKED, about not just bullying but why someone might bully, is a very relevant social topic. SPEAK, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a wonderful story about a very troubling social issue of rape. Even if the story isn't that heavy, like my book The Timepiece Chronicles (link above), there still is a theme to our writing that we want others to come away with (in my book it's about the importance of not fighting what happened in the past).
But what if your theme causes controversy, or you're seen as an expert when really you just wanted to express your opinion? Or what if people argue against you, or challenge you? That can be scary.
So, again, how do you overcome it? TRUST YOURSELF WITH THE STORY. You've written about this for a reason. You know it in your heart to be true, no matter how many people take offense, or challenge you, or want more from you. Hopefully, in your research, you've become somewhat of an expert, and hopefully you are passionate about it that you won't stop learning more. You can stand your ground, accept the challenges, or promote your idea from the highest mountaintop if you believe in yourself, and believe in your ability to deliver the message.
We're all messengers. Every single one of us that writes has a message to send. Trust yours, and trust yourself to deliver it.
We're afraid.
Of what, you may ask? Why, if I love writing the way I do, would I possibly be so afraid as to STOP writing? You can't be published if you stopped writing. In fact, 100% of all unfinished novels that have never seen the light of day are UNPUBLISHED (that one's a fact.)
So why do we stop writing?
1. FEAR OF SUCCESS.
This is a weird one, so I thought I'd throw it out first. What does Fear of Success mean? Who the heck would ever be afraid of success? Money, fame, fortune, a beautiful model on each arm (depending on the tolerance level of your spouse). Sounds great, right?
Wrong. What does Success really entail? CHANGE. Imagine your book finally getting published. Selling. Through the proverbial roof, in fact. What does that mean? Changes to your lifestyle. And I don't mean a brand new Porsche. I mean possibly quitting your job. Having to look for health insurance as a self-employed individual. If you have kids, it might mean less time with them. More time writing, but with greater, stricter deadlines. Flights to weird places. Book signings. Marketing work, all while you still try to hang on to your crummy day job that you can't wait to quit but you have to keep because the royalties from last month just paid for a new printer and not much else.
How do you overcome this? You face the fear, you imagine your life as a success, and you plan for it. You organize your future life to understand what the change will mean, and make the change less of a scary "oh my God my life will be totally turned upside down" and more of a "man I can't wait."
Fear gone. Until it's replaced by:
2. FEAR OF FAILURE.
Yes, this is something that every author has so I won't bog you down with clichés and obvious points. You know what this means. You know how it feels. You see the rejection letters, hear the "It was good" reviews from your closest friends, and you know you've just dropped your drawers in front of three agents at a writer's workshop and had each of them laugh at you. You've failed.
So how do you overcome it? EXPECT FAILURE. Welcome it. Relish the rejection letters, and never accept a critique of "it was pretty good". Failure means progression, pure and simple. Without it, you can't recognize what needs to change. Without it, you only know you're NOT doing something. Like Edison famously once said, "I didn't fail 1000 times, I found 1000 ways to NOT make a light bulb". Find those ways. Don't, of course, drive yourself to failure. That'd be silly. But realize each time you think you've failed, that you're a real writer.
And then, you'll only be left with:
3. THE FEAR OF EXPOSING YOURSELF
This is an altogether different type of fear, based on the reason WHY you're writing. We write because we love the act of creating worlds, characters, being charge, playing God, whatever. But really, deep down inside, we write because we have something to say. My author friends, the published ones, have written very personal narratives that touch on social issues they feel people need to be aware of. K.M. Walton's CRACKED, about not just bullying but why someone might bully, is a very relevant social topic. SPEAK, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a wonderful story about a very troubling social issue of rape. Even if the story isn't that heavy, like my book The Timepiece Chronicles (link above), there still is a theme to our writing that we want others to come away with (in my book it's about the importance of not fighting what happened in the past).
But what if your theme causes controversy, or you're seen as an expert when really you just wanted to express your opinion? Or what if people argue against you, or challenge you? That can be scary.
So, again, how do you overcome it? TRUST YOURSELF WITH THE STORY. You've written about this for a reason. You know it in your heart to be true, no matter how many people take offense, or challenge you, or want more from you. Hopefully, in your research, you've become somewhat of an expert, and hopefully you are passionate about it that you won't stop learning more. You can stand your ground, accept the challenges, or promote your idea from the highest mountaintop if you believe in yourself, and believe in your ability to deliver the message.
We're all messengers. Every single one of us that writes has a message to send. Trust yours, and trust yourself to deliver it.
January 8, 2015
5 Things I've Learned About CreateSpace
After a lengthy sabbatical, I've picked up the blog pen again to keep you abreast of my adventures in self-publishing land.
To catch everyone up: I was offered two eBook agreements by small time post-apocalyptic eBook publishers, and after wrestling with my indecision, I chose not to do either. Stupid, perhaps, but some part of me felt that this was something I had to do alone.
Fast forward to today - I'm in the midst of editing the printed version of my book, after getting it to CreateSpace via Amazon. It's print-on-demand, so there's no cost, just a percentage of your sales. As opposed to publishing houses like AuthorHouse, I think this is totally worth it. Sure other places like AuthorHouse offer a lot of perks, but they're also expensive.
So, without further ado: 5 things I've learned about CreateSpace:
It's pretty easy to use, but the layout must be exactly to their specs. Don't mess with it, or your book will look amateurish. It does require an ISBN number. If you're self published and don't have one yet, get one. It's about $129, and if you go through CreateSpace to get it they'll add it to their distribution list for libraries. Not really relevant for an R-rated book such as Under a Broken Sun, but definitely something I'm going to do with The Timepiece Chronicles.NOTE: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing does NOT require an ISBN - they assign an Amazon number regardless. So if you're not planning on printing, don't worry about it.However, if you want to protect your work thoroughly, it does help ;)I pretty much just added 2 because my teacher always said when outlining every 1 must have at least a 2.The cover can be a bit tricky, but if you have the cover for your eBook already prepared, it's not too hard to get it into the format and size CreateSpace requires. Just don't expect a "slam it in" or as the old infomercial used to say, "set it and forget it". It'll take some tweaking.The site overall does a good job of walking you through what you need, and letting you know if something doesn't fit or doesn't work.Finally, when you get it all complete, for about $12 you can send yourself a PROOF copy to review and edit. I HIGHLY recommend this, one because it's TOTALLY COOL to see your book in soft cover for the first time, and two, it's a lot easier to edit when it's in book form, because you read it like a real book. And if you're like me, you'll find a lot of errors you would've caught in any real book.That's it for now. In the interest of keeping blogs short, I'll sign off.
Coming up: trouble with my inner child, and how that stopped me from writing, and 10 reasons why I left Apple and switched to Surface Pro 3.
Later on, my writing family!
To catch everyone up: I was offered two eBook agreements by small time post-apocalyptic eBook publishers, and after wrestling with my indecision, I chose not to do either. Stupid, perhaps, but some part of me felt that this was something I had to do alone.
Fast forward to today - I'm in the midst of editing the printed version of my book, after getting it to CreateSpace via Amazon. It's print-on-demand, so there's no cost, just a percentage of your sales. As opposed to publishing houses like AuthorHouse, I think this is totally worth it. Sure other places like AuthorHouse offer a lot of perks, but they're also expensive.
So, without further ado: 5 things I've learned about CreateSpace:
It's pretty easy to use, but the layout must be exactly to their specs. Don't mess with it, or your book will look amateurish. It does require an ISBN number. If you're self published and don't have one yet, get one. It's about $129, and if you go through CreateSpace to get it they'll add it to their distribution list for libraries. Not really relevant for an R-rated book such as Under a Broken Sun, but definitely something I'm going to do with The Timepiece Chronicles.NOTE: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing does NOT require an ISBN - they assign an Amazon number regardless. So if you're not planning on printing, don't worry about it.However, if you want to protect your work thoroughly, it does help ;)I pretty much just added 2 because my teacher always said when outlining every 1 must have at least a 2.The cover can be a bit tricky, but if you have the cover for your eBook already prepared, it's not too hard to get it into the format and size CreateSpace requires. Just don't expect a "slam it in" or as the old infomercial used to say, "set it and forget it". It'll take some tweaking.The site overall does a good job of walking you through what you need, and letting you know if something doesn't fit or doesn't work.Finally, when you get it all complete, for about $12 you can send yourself a PROOF copy to review and edit. I HIGHLY recommend this, one because it's TOTALLY COOL to see your book in soft cover for the first time, and two, it's a lot easier to edit when it's in book form, because you read it like a real book. And if you're like me, you'll find a lot of errors you would've caught in any real book.That's it for now. In the interest of keeping blogs short, I'll sign off.
Coming up: trouble with my inner child, and how that stopped me from writing, and 10 reasons why I left Apple and switched to Surface Pro 3.
Later on, my writing family!
March 22, 2014
Decisions, Decisions.
I got an offer from Permuted Publishing! A three book deal for Under a Broken Sun, which is pretty exciting!
So why am I not bouncing off the walls?
Because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!
Is it a good offer? A bad offer? What do I look for when signing my rights away?
The challenge of being a self-published author.
I'm searching for agents, but if you go to an agent with a publisher in hand, they're less likely to work with you, especially if it's a smaller niche publisher like Permuted (they are strictly post-apocalytpic). Plus an agent knows the big boys - Simon & Schuster, etc, which means bigger advances.
In other words, I don't want to jump at the first person expressing interest.
BUT, do I risk turning them down just to have them disappear? And then maybe never get another offer again?
WHAT TO DO!?!?
Leave advice via the comments. It's free, and will be taken as such. :)
Oh well. Book 2 calls. WRITE ON!
So why am I not bouncing off the walls?
Because I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING!
Is it a good offer? A bad offer? What do I look for when signing my rights away?
The challenge of being a self-published author.
I'm searching for agents, but if you go to an agent with a publisher in hand, they're less likely to work with you, especially if it's a smaller niche publisher like Permuted (they are strictly post-apocalytpic). Plus an agent knows the big boys - Simon & Schuster, etc, which means bigger advances.
In other words, I don't want to jump at the first person expressing interest.
BUT, do I risk turning them down just to have them disappear? And then maybe never get another offer again?
WHAT TO DO!?!?
Leave advice via the comments. It's free, and will be taken as such. :)
Oh well. Book 2 calls. WRITE ON!
February 23, 2014
Great discussion with a social media coordinator
Yes, there are groups and organizations out there that will manage your social media presence for you, and believe me, it's worth it.
I haven't signed up yet for it, but this guy's giving me a free look-over on my Facebook ads, to see if 1) I'm targeting the right audience and
2) I'm sending out effective ads.
Here's what I learned about Facebook advertising:
- You can have a campaign consist of multiple ads, each one targeting a specific audience with different images, words, etc. Once these go out, you can use the results to identify your best target audience. And if you set a dollar limit on your campaign, your ads will accumulate to that limit and no more.
- Broader scope is not better. You may think targeting 58 million people would be great, and you may jack up your likes to your page, but that doesn't necessarily translate into sales. Many people like a page just cuz they like it, or they like everything that comes their way, but they're not the ones buying your book. A broad reach may get you 100 likes on your Facebook page and no sales, whereas a niche target may get you 25 likes but 25 sales. Likes don't pay. Sales do.
More to come once I get the feedback from my social media coordinator. In the meantime, if you have a chance to consider Facebook advertising for your on-line book or self-published book, DO IT.
And most importantly, WRITE ON!
I haven't signed up yet for it, but this guy's giving me a free look-over on my Facebook ads, to see if 1) I'm targeting the right audience and
2) I'm sending out effective ads.
Here's what I learned about Facebook advertising:
- You can have a campaign consist of multiple ads, each one targeting a specific audience with different images, words, etc. Once these go out, you can use the results to identify your best target audience. And if you set a dollar limit on your campaign, your ads will accumulate to that limit and no more.
- Broader scope is not better. You may think targeting 58 million people would be great, and you may jack up your likes to your page, but that doesn't necessarily translate into sales. Many people like a page just cuz they like it, or they like everything that comes their way, but they're not the ones buying your book. A broad reach may get you 100 likes on your Facebook page and no sales, whereas a niche target may get you 25 likes but 25 sales. Likes don't pay. Sales do.
More to come once I get the feedback from my social media coordinator. In the meantime, if you have a chance to consider Facebook advertising for your on-line book or self-published book, DO IT.
And most importantly, WRITE ON!
February 8, 2014
The key to overcoming writer's block is...
...to stop writing.
No, I don't mean forever. There wouldn't be any writers left in the world if we did that. No, I mean, don't stare at your screen or typewriter (for you hipster writers) "trying" to write. Stop. Step away from the computer.
It's ok.
Now, that's all well and good, but how do you get back on track? Well, in my experience writer's block usually comes from an uncertain direction forward. What now? What plot point can I throw in? What's the subplot? How can I move the story forward?
Screaming is a good place to start.
This happened to me on the bus the other day whilst writing Under a Broken Sun II - Mammoth Caves. The hero's group pulled off the main road for the night, into a barn. They split up, some to check out the farm house to see if anyone was alive there, some to get wood. Some stayed in the barn to start a warming fire.
And then....
......uh.....
....um.....
Yeah, I got nothin'
So, what did I do? Well, I happen to have a playlist of songs that are the "soundtrack" to my story. I listen to them in random order, over 150 songs, when I write. When I'm blocked? I stop writing, and start listening.
I closed my eyes (all on the bus, remember), listened to the soundtrack, and put myself in the scene. It's cold. Biting cold. The three men go out to cut wood. So they have axes. They talk about the previous scene. Danger. Need danger. What's dangerous about being in the middle of trees with no electricity and cold? Not hypothermia. To easy to avoid. Not in-fighting, doesn't suit the characters. I watched the movie in my head. And suddenly -
- there was a growling. Slow. Deep. Then another. A guttural harmony.
Block avoided. I won't tell you what happens because then you won't buy the book figuring you already know it all, but suffice to say, I was off and running again.
So to get over your writer's block, stop writing, start listening, start observing. Go into your story. However you can, however you choose to do it, close your eyes, and BE there.
And then?
WRITE ON!
And your story will hug you.
No, I don't mean forever. There wouldn't be any writers left in the world if we did that. No, I mean, don't stare at your screen or typewriter (for you hipster writers) "trying" to write. Stop. Step away from the computer.
It's ok.
Now, that's all well and good, but how do you get back on track? Well, in my experience writer's block usually comes from an uncertain direction forward. What now? What plot point can I throw in? What's the subplot? How can I move the story forward?
Screaming is a good place to start.This happened to me on the bus the other day whilst writing Under a Broken Sun II - Mammoth Caves. The hero's group pulled off the main road for the night, into a barn. They split up, some to check out the farm house to see if anyone was alive there, some to get wood. Some stayed in the barn to start a warming fire.
And then....
......uh.....
....um.....
Yeah, I got nothin'So, what did I do? Well, I happen to have a playlist of songs that are the "soundtrack" to my story. I listen to them in random order, over 150 songs, when I write. When I'm blocked? I stop writing, and start listening.
I closed my eyes (all on the bus, remember), listened to the soundtrack, and put myself in the scene. It's cold. Biting cold. The three men go out to cut wood. So they have axes. They talk about the previous scene. Danger. Need danger. What's dangerous about being in the middle of trees with no electricity and cold? Not hypothermia. To easy to avoid. Not in-fighting, doesn't suit the characters. I watched the movie in my head. And suddenly -
- there was a growling. Slow. Deep. Then another. A guttural harmony.
Block avoided. I won't tell you what happens because then you won't buy the book figuring you already know it all, but suffice to say, I was off and running again.
So to get over your writer's block, stop writing, start listening, start observing. Go into your story. However you can, however you choose to do it, close your eyes, and BE there.
And then?
WRITE ON!
And your story will hug you.
January 30, 2014
Sometimes life just sucks...
Today was one of those days, and it seems to be a common thread amongst my friends and family. Bad news, depressing news, rejections, dreams being knocked off course by turbulence that no one can control.
This is one of those days.
So what do we do? Pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and chin up and all that?
Nah. Fuck that. We get angry. Depressed. Throw stuff. Cry.
Emotions are a part of dealing with pain. They squeeze the pain out of us like wringing a sponge, and it hurts, and it sucks, but it gets it out and over with. Because once the pain of disappointment and anger goes away and is out of our system, we're able to focus on the next steps.
Don't fight the emotions. Punch a pillow. Scream outside. Take to the treadmill like you're stomping on someone's face.
You know the rules: no killing, no torture, no self-harm. None of that helps anyway. But recognizing the emotions, and being ok with the tears, that does.
Then, when the mind is clear and the soul can connect again, we can pray, meditate, think on our situation, and accept whatever curve ball has just been thrown at us, and get to the next chapter.
Remember, if life is a book, we're the main characters. And as any writer knows, what do you do to your hero to make their adventure more exciting? You switch it up on them. Throw in road block after road block and watch your hero persevere.
There's no reason why we can't do the same.
This is one of those days.
So what do we do? Pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and chin up and all that?
Nah. Fuck that. We get angry. Depressed. Throw stuff. Cry.
Emotions are a part of dealing with pain. They squeeze the pain out of us like wringing a sponge, and it hurts, and it sucks, but it gets it out and over with. Because once the pain of disappointment and anger goes away and is out of our system, we're able to focus on the next steps.
Don't fight the emotions. Punch a pillow. Scream outside. Take to the treadmill like you're stomping on someone's face.
You know the rules: no killing, no torture, no self-harm. None of that helps anyway. But recognizing the emotions, and being ok with the tears, that does.
Then, when the mind is clear and the soul can connect again, we can pray, meditate, think on our situation, and accept whatever curve ball has just been thrown at us, and get to the next chapter.
Remember, if life is a book, we're the main characters. And as any writer knows, what do you do to your hero to make their adventure more exciting? You switch it up on them. Throw in road block after road block and watch your hero persevere.
There's no reason why we can't do the same.
