Karen GoatKeeper's Blog, page 29
January 13, 2016
Preorder Listings
One of my writing goals for this year is to get serious about marketing my books. I love writing books. It's exciting to offer them on Amazon, Smashwords and elsewhere. It is so disappointing to have no one look at them.
Capri Capers is supposed to be out in March. According to all I've read, publicity begins even before now. I should be setting up preorders, telling people about it.
I decided I would find out about preorders and set at least one up this week.
I finished the rewrite adjusting the novel to the map. There were numerous direction and description changes but I'm not lost in the state forest anymore.
The novel is on track. Set up that preorder.
Except Capri Capers has another problem. I've messed up the timeline again. And there is this farmhand Jack Handy. What does a farmhand do? I can't afford one so I'm at a loss here.
Panic sets in. Cancel the preordeer set up.
My timeline is again in order. I've come up with a list of chores for Jack Handy. Yes, it means yet another rewrite.
The preorder is on the list again.
Maybe I can procrastinate some more agonizing over the cover. No, I know what the cover will be. It isn't drawn yet but I know what it is.
All right. I am just looking for an excuse to not do the pre-release marketing. It is so much easier to slide back off the radar, to not try to get noticed. Someone may not like my book. Even with improved marketing no one may notice my book.
That would mean putting in all that time and effort for nothing. Why bother? I can use that time to write.
But Capri Capers might get noticed if I put out that time and effort. If I don't try, I'll always wonder.
Now, where do I find out how to do a preorder?
Capri Capers is supposed to be out in March. According to all I've read, publicity begins even before now. I should be setting up preorders, telling people about it.
I decided I would find out about preorders and set at least one up this week.
I finished the rewrite adjusting the novel to the map. There were numerous direction and description changes but I'm not lost in the state forest anymore.
The novel is on track. Set up that preorder.
Except Capri Capers has another problem. I've messed up the timeline again. And there is this farmhand Jack Handy. What does a farmhand do? I can't afford one so I'm at a loss here.
Panic sets in. Cancel the preordeer set up.
My timeline is again in order. I've come up with a list of chores for Jack Handy. Yes, it means yet another rewrite.
The preorder is on the list again.
Maybe I can procrastinate some more agonizing over the cover. No, I know what the cover will be. It isn't drawn yet but I know what it is.
All right. I am just looking for an excuse to not do the pre-release marketing. It is so much easier to slide back off the radar, to not try to get noticed. Someone may not like my book. Even with improved marketing no one may notice my book.
That would mean putting in all that time and effort for nothing. Why bother? I can use that time to write.
But Capri Capers might get noticed if I put out that time and effort. If I don't try, I'll always wonder.
Now, where do I find out how to do a preorder?
January 6, 2016
How a Map Changes a Novel
The bad guys zipped into a state forest and into a maze of roads followed by the deputies. The roads twist and turn. And i got lost.
If the author gets lost, what will the poor readers do?
And so I drew a map. I pored through Capri Capers for every mention of the state forest and its roads. Finally I devised a map that almost worked for every mention.
Notice that almost. Obviously my mental road map had some defects in it. No wonder I got lost.
Now that I have a map, I get to work my way through Capri Capers again matching each adventure involving the state forest roads to the map.
A right turn became a left turn. Several turns became two. A cabin turned to face another direction.
Next is the problem of cell phone service in the forest. If there is no service in an area, there must be a reason. Otherwise the whole story in that section changes.
I am glad to have the map. I don't want my readers lost among the trees. But matching the story with the map takes a lot of careful reading and many changes.
If the author gets lost, what will the poor readers do?
And so I drew a map. I pored through Capri Capers for every mention of the state forest and its roads. Finally I devised a map that almost worked for every mention.
Notice that almost. Obviously my mental road map had some defects in it. No wonder I got lost.
Now that I have a map, I get to work my way through Capri Capers again matching each adventure involving the state forest roads to the map.
A right turn became a left turn. Several turns became two. A cabin turned to face another direction.
Next is the problem of cell phone service in the forest. If there is no service in an area, there must be a reason. Otherwise the whole story in that section changes.
I am glad to have the map. I don't want my readers lost among the trees. But matching the story with the map takes a lot of careful reading and many changes.
December 30, 2015
Goals for the New Year
Make New Year resolutions is what people say. In truth those resolutions quickly get broken then tossed aside as failures.
A resolution is so rigid. You will do this. You will not do this.
Such a format is doomed to failure from the beginning.
Enter the New Year goal list. There is no set timetable. Sometime this year this goal will be accomplished. If a snag arises in January, there is February to try again, no stigma, no failure. Life happens.
Even when the list is not quite finished by the end of the year, the goals just shift to the next year.
So it is with my writing goals for this year. I had hopes of completing three books and two drafts. I finished one book and one draft and several rewrites of another draft.
The New Year brings a new writing goal list. That unfinished book heads it. And I hope three more will join it. Then there are two drafts to do.
One extra thing is on my writing goal list this next year. It isn't really writing but marketing. I love to write and know little about marketing which means people don't find out about my books. I want to change that this year.
The New Year officially starts next week end. I couldn't wait. At last I found a way to make free sample pages from all my books available on my website! it's only a PDF link, not a fancy button. But it's done.
Now, what's next on that list of goals?
Happy New Year to everyone. May you fulfill your next year's goal list and have many great happenings to embellish it.
A resolution is so rigid. You will do this. You will not do this.
Such a format is doomed to failure from the beginning.
Enter the New Year goal list. There is no set timetable. Sometime this year this goal will be accomplished. If a snag arises in January, there is February to try again, no stigma, no failure. Life happens.
Even when the list is not quite finished by the end of the year, the goals just shift to the next year.
So it is with my writing goals for this year. I had hopes of completing three books and two drafts. I finished one book and one draft and several rewrites of another draft.
The New Year brings a new writing goal list. That unfinished book heads it. And I hope three more will join it. Then there are two drafts to do.
One extra thing is on my writing goal list this next year. It isn't really writing but marketing. I love to write and know little about marketing which means people don't find out about my books. I want to change that this year.
The New Year officially starts next week end. I couldn't wait. At last I found a way to make free sample pages from all my books available on my website! it's only a PDF link, not a fancy button. But it's done.
Now, what's next on that list of goals?
Happy New Year to everyone. May you fulfill your next year's goal list and have many great happenings to embellish it.
December 23, 2015
Year's End
Do years really end? Or do they simply keep rolling in an endless cycle?
People say a year ends on December 31 and begins again on January 1. The sky does change a bit earlier with the winter solstice. Otherwise there is not much difference from one day to another.
The change in the year, artificial or not, is a good time to reflect on what has been accomplished over the past twelve months. I have one new book done. I have many posts on my website. My garden was a success. My goats are doing well.
This quieter time of the natural year however hectic people try to make it is a time for remembering those who began the year with you but did not end it with you. These friends will be missed. It is also a time to remember those friends who are still there with you and rejoice over new friends you've made.
I wish all a Happy Holiday Season.
People say a year ends on December 31 and begins again on January 1. The sky does change a bit earlier with the winter solstice. Otherwise there is not much difference from one day to another.
The change in the year, artificial or not, is a good time to reflect on what has been accomplished over the past twelve months. I have one new book done. I have many posts on my website. My garden was a success. My goats are doing well.
This quieter time of the natural year however hectic people try to make it is a time for remembering those who began the year with you but did not end it with you. These friends will be missed. It is also a time to remember those friends who are still there with you and rejoice over new friends you've made.
I wish all a Happy Holiday Season.
December 9, 2015
Reading and Writing
Authors write. Yet no author is a perfect master of writing. Always there are items that come up leaving the author at a loss. Reading can help.
I am again plowing my way through Capri Capers. I am also trying to take to heart P.J.'s comments on not hoarding books.
Although some of my difficulties are solved with a little research and drawing two maps, one problem still dogs me in my novel draft. The characters seem too flat, contrived.
Out of frustration I started looking through some old Children's Writer books sitting on my bookshelf to sort a few out to pass on. Old means old: 1998. And an article about Katherine Patterson about creating her characters.
This author wants to be deeply acquainted with her characters. She wants to know their deepest thoughts and desires. Only then do the characters come alive on the page.
It is so tempting in my creme fluff novel to ignore this advice. I could leave it as a light chase novel. It would be done. I could go on to other projects.
And I would forever be unhappy as I would know this novel might have been so much more. I don't like this alternative.
Who is Harriet? Who is Arthur? What motives drive Roscoe Rascal?
At least two minor characters, Capri and Agate, are easy. Goat motives are something I understand without deep efforts.
I am again plowing my way through Capri Capers. I am also trying to take to heart P.J.'s comments on not hoarding books.
Although some of my difficulties are solved with a little research and drawing two maps, one problem still dogs me in my novel draft. The characters seem too flat, contrived.
Out of frustration I started looking through some old Children's Writer books sitting on my bookshelf to sort a few out to pass on. Old means old: 1998. And an article about Katherine Patterson about creating her characters.
This author wants to be deeply acquainted with her characters. She wants to know their deepest thoughts and desires. Only then do the characters come alive on the page.
It is so tempting in my creme fluff novel to ignore this advice. I could leave it as a light chase novel. It would be done. I could go on to other projects.
And I would forever be unhappy as I would know this novel might have been so much more. I don't like this alternative.
Who is Harriet? Who is Arthur? What motives drive Roscoe Rascal?
At least two minor characters, Capri and Agate, are easy. Goat motives are something I understand without deep efforts.
December 2, 2015
Almost Disaster and Aftermath
November is over along with NaNo. I spent so much of the month getting ready for book signings, club meetings and chores my novel languished.
The last week began with me down 32,000 words. Failure was my daily companion.
The novel plot began to roll along. Ridge had his car and was driving toward trouble. The word count began to climb.
It is amazing how fast you can type in the throes of a breakneck novel scene.
It is amazing how fast exciting scenes play out, roaring through their climax driving toward their resolution 8,000 words short of the NaNo goal.
What on Earth can fill up those thousands of words with three days to go?
Back story for characters. Epilogues for the characters. Creative adjective and adverb and preposition filled prose mounts up.
Yes, I did manage to fill out 50,000 words, 15,000 of them in two days. The first draft is written. It is a writer's nightmare right now.
But the novel has possibilities. All it needs is some solid research, blending of the two main story lines and rewriting to become a real novel. At least the novel has started on the road to presentable.
The last week began with me down 32,000 words. Failure was my daily companion.
The novel plot began to roll along. Ridge had his car and was driving toward trouble. The word count began to climb.
It is amazing how fast you can type in the throes of a breakneck novel scene.
It is amazing how fast exciting scenes play out, roaring through their climax driving toward their resolution 8,000 words short of the NaNo goal.
What on Earth can fill up those thousands of words with three days to go?
Back story for characters. Epilogues for the characters. Creative adjective and adverb and preposition filled prose mounts up.
Yes, I did manage to fill out 50,000 words, 15,000 of them in two days. The first draft is written. It is a writer's nightmare right now.
But the novel has possibilities. All it needs is some solid research, blending of the two main story lines and rewriting to become a real novel. At least the novel has started on the road to presentable.
November 18, 2015
Hamster Wheels
A report came up on the radio news the other day about teenage suicides. These weren't the outcasts or shunned. These were the popular, smart kids with good grades.
Why?
Of course there was analysis and speculations. Of course there was hand wringing. Of course there were plans for intervention.
What struck me was that these kids were so very busy. They were overwhelmed with their lives.
Schools value perfect attendance. My mother didn't. As a normal rule we were expected to be up and off to school on time. Yet every once in a while we got to stay home for a trip to the beach or the park or anywhere but school.
Why?
My mother told me years later she held one of these days when one or more of us got too frazzled. We needed some time off. Just a day to relax, get out from under the stress.
These teenagers seemed to never take a day off. They worked 24/7, 365 days a year.
Long ago the lumber camps found working a six day week increased production even though one day had no one working but the cooks. Everyone needs a break now and then. Including me. Except in November.
But maybe I should remember my mother's wisdom and get out of my hamster wheel life for a time. Maybe we all should. And maybe we should teach our kids to do the same.
Suicide is a waste of a precious life. It's even more of a waste if the cause is only looking for a way out of the hamster wheel.
Why?
Of course there was analysis and speculations. Of course there was hand wringing. Of course there were plans for intervention.
What struck me was that these kids were so very busy. They were overwhelmed with their lives.
Schools value perfect attendance. My mother didn't. As a normal rule we were expected to be up and off to school on time. Yet every once in a while we got to stay home for a trip to the beach or the park or anywhere but school.
Why?
My mother told me years later she held one of these days when one or more of us got too frazzled. We needed some time off. Just a day to relax, get out from under the stress.
These teenagers seemed to never take a day off. They worked 24/7, 365 days a year.
Long ago the lumber camps found working a six day week increased production even though one day had no one working but the cooks. Everyone needs a break now and then. Including me. Except in November.
But maybe I should remember my mother's wisdom and get out of my hamster wheel life for a time. Maybe we all should. And maybe we should teach our kids to do the same.
Suicide is a waste of a precious life. It's even more of a waste if the cause is only looking for a way out of the hamster wheel.
November 14, 2015
Blogging
I'm not an expert on blogging. I am a persistent blogger. Why?
Blogging seems rather fun to me. Each one is like taking a little vacation from the serious work of writing a novel draft. Each seems like talking to other people interested in some of the things that interest me.
For me the downside of blogging is the same as the downside of writing. It is an individual affair with little input from others. That is a minor problem.
Somehow my writers group has the impression I am an expert on blogging. It is one of the tech topics for my monthly presentation. What do I do?
Obviously I can't become a blogging expert overnight or even in a month. That doesn't mean I can't learn a whole lot in that month about blogging.
Who knows? Maybe my own blogs will improve by more than trial and error persistence.
Blogging seems rather fun to me. Each one is like taking a little vacation from the serious work of writing a novel draft. Each seems like talking to other people interested in some of the things that interest me.
For me the downside of blogging is the same as the downside of writing. It is an individual affair with little input from others. That is a minor problem.
Somehow my writers group has the impression I am an expert on blogging. It is one of the tech topics for my monthly presentation. What do I do?
Obviously I can't become a blogging expert overnight or even in a month. That doesn't mean I can't learn a whole lot in that month about blogging.
Who knows? Maybe my own blogs will improve by more than trial and error persistence.
November 4, 2015
First Drafts
November madness has begun. I have several books started or in rewrite on my computer already. Why write another draft?
Writers are supposed to write. Something inside of them demands that they write.
Writing a first draft is not like rewriting or editing. It has a freedom to it. Anything goes. The page is blank waiting for ideas to appear on it.
Rewriting is exciting in that a draft coalesces into a real novel but it lacks the freedom of that first draft. The basic story is known. The plot is known.
Almost the entire year I work on rewriting or completing such a story. Finishing one is exhilarating. Seeing it in print is so very special.
But, oh that first draft freedom! One month a year I can cut loose and play with crazy ideas and happenings. The story can meander or branch off into side plots. Impossible happenings are easy to think up.
Such freedom sweeps the stodgy cobwebs out of the brain. It shakes loose complacency.
Next month is time to bring that crazy draft down to Earth to become something practical. This month is time to fly!
Writers are supposed to write. Something inside of them demands that they write.
Writing a first draft is not like rewriting or editing. It has a freedom to it. Anything goes. The page is blank waiting for ideas to appear on it.
Rewriting is exciting in that a draft coalesces into a real novel but it lacks the freedom of that first draft. The basic story is known. The plot is known.
Almost the entire year I work on rewriting or completing such a story. Finishing one is exhilarating. Seeing it in print is so very special.
But, oh that first draft freedom! One month a year I can cut loose and play with crazy ideas and happenings. The story can meander or branch off into side plots. Impossible happenings are easy to think up.
Such freedom sweeps the stodgy cobwebs out of the brain. It shakes loose complacency.
Next month is time to bring that crazy draft down to Earth to become something practical. This month is time to fly!
October 28, 2015
Too Close?
I've heard many times the advice to set a draft aside then come back to it to rewrite it. This is supposed to give the writer some distance from the draft making the writer more objective.
How long should the writer wait? For some it's a week. Others wait a month for the story to dim in their memory.
Capri Capers sat waiting for a year. Yet the first paragraph made the story come back to life as though I had written it the day before.
But the second rewrite is done. I managed to find several places I had changed before but missed related areas. The characters are more alive to me now. The epilogue isn't a series of four word sentences anymore.
But was I objective enough? Was I objective at all? I don't know. I know i was too busy laughing evilly through one section to even glimpse objectivity let alone practice it.
So I am positive I am reading what I expect to read in places instead of what is actually written. How can I obtain some objectivity?
This time I will farm that out. After all, if this crazy romp of a book can make others laugh, I can consider it a good book and do a final edit.
Anyone want to read through Capri Capers? It's about 50,000 words.
How long should the writer wait? For some it's a week. Others wait a month for the story to dim in their memory.
Capri Capers sat waiting for a year. Yet the first paragraph made the story come back to life as though I had written it the day before.
But the second rewrite is done. I managed to find several places I had changed before but missed related areas. The characters are more alive to me now. The epilogue isn't a series of four word sentences anymore.
But was I objective enough? Was I objective at all? I don't know. I know i was too busy laughing evilly through one section to even glimpse objectivity let alone practice it.
So I am positive I am reading what I expect to read in places instead of what is actually written. How can I obtain some objectivity?
This time I will farm that out. After all, if this crazy romp of a book can make others laugh, I can consider it a good book and do a final edit.
Anyone want to read through Capri Capers? It's about 50,000 words.
