Callum McLaughlin's Blog, page 84

Hope Will Blossom

Naïve eyes see only snow,

the icy blanket o’er all the land.

For those of us who’re in the know,

we see the future Mother’s planned.

The long, dark nights ignite your fears,

attention fixed on how we’ll cope

but I implore you, please, don’t waste your tears,

for all around us bursts with hope.

Be blinded not by what is hidden

and fail to marvel at all She brings,

beauty it is ne’er forbidden,

it soars upon a robin’s wings.

Hear not the menace in winter’s breeze

but promises of spring’s salvation.

Allow your mind to be at ease,

it’s merely part of life’s creation.

A spark of light begins the thaw

and all will stop and stare in awe,

I just pray it’s not too late;

to love; embrace; appreciate.

Little and Often

I always seem to have more books than I can manage.

For a while, I felt like I wasn’t getting through as many books as I would like to, and with a to-read list that seems to get longer by the day, I’ve been making a conscious effort to read more recently. I’ve always been a ‘little and often’ kind of reader; I find it much more satisfying to read short amounts every day rather than big chunks sporadically. I just find it easier to keep track of the plot that way and like that reading simply becomes habitual; an integral part of my day, rather than feeling like a task that must be met when possible.

I do feel like I’ve been successful in reading more overall these last couple of months, which is great, but I’ve never been one to keep track of how many books I’ve actually finished. It would be interesting to see how much more I read now as opposed to when I was younger, and next year, I hope to set a reading target of a certain number of books to give that extra incentive and motivation to finally slow the growth of that seemingly bottomless to-read pile.

Do you read regularly or just as and when you can? Do you read more now than when you were younger? Do you keep track of how many books you’ve read?

Dawn

A fiery gift of life -

Ignite the morning sky

and wake the world once more.

Hold for Applause

Thank you!

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for my little blog. Last week I surpassed 1000 likes; this week I hit 100 posts; a couple of days ago I reached 300 followers and to top it all off, I’ve been nominated for two awards, one courtesy of Hayley Knighten and the other from Susanne Leist.

First off, Hayley is an awesome blogger. Her personality leaps off her posts and she is a very active member of the writing community. The long and short of it is, if you aren’t yet following her blog, I definitely think you should be. As for Susanne, I only discovered her work fairly recently but I’m very glad I did. Her writing style is both approachable and intriguing; her novel, The Dead Game, is already on my to-read list.

Rather than make separate posts to mark each of these milestones in my blogging life, I thought I would simply make this short post to essentially say a massive thank you. To get to discover interesting readers and writers alike – each with their own unique perspective to offer – is a joy, but to share my own poetry, fiction, ideas and whatnot for other people to engage with is a dream and it’s flattering and exciting to know there are people out there who are interested in my ramblings.

Here’s to the next 100 posts; I hope you’ll continue along for the ride and with any luck, we’ll pick up a few more members for this lovely, supportive little group along the way. Cheers!

Wings

Your words are a poison,

distorting given love.

This home is a prison,

restricting an open soul.

But my wings are mine to keep,

protected from your wrath,

and I was not born to be a captive,

no matter your resolve.

I dream of my own freedom,

that air beneath my wings;

such promises a light to banish

your prowling demons

into the depths of their own sins.

One day you’ll leave this cage unlocked

and I will fly.

Oh how I will fly.

The Ups and Downs of Marketing

Marketing isn’t exactly known for being fun…

We writers like to think of ourselves as the creative sort but as much as we’d love to live in our peaceful countryside retreat, releasing our latest book into the world every year or so as royalty cheques come rolling in, that is unfortunately not the reality. In order to have any chance of ‘making it’ as a writer – by which I mean generating sales and earning some money – then we also have to embrace the fact that we are self-employed business people.

This of course brings us to the ever-present, deeply intimidating issue of marketing. It’s the means by which we let people know about us as writers and our work as viable forms of entertainment but shoving ourselves in people’s faces and demanding they support our career is never much fun. This means we, including myself, are always on the lookout for new, interesting and effective ways to promote our books.

I must admit I didn’t do a huge amount to market my debut novel, The Vessel, as my focus was on gaining experience in the world of publishing and dipping my toe in the water as it were but it is an issue I know will require more attention in the future. I for one am always grateful when someone shares their tips and experiences with regards to marketing but sadly I don’t think it happens often enough. So, in the spirit of honesty and mutual support, here is a breakdown of what I tried and how effective it was in my case.

Word of mouth: It may sound cliché but you truly cannot underestimate the power of word-of-mouth when it comes to writers. I would comfortably say that the vast majority of my sales have been friends of friends who learned about my book through the people they know. To give specific examples, I began by posting on my facebook that my book was available, so as to let my close friends know. Thankfully, several of them bought the book but also shared the post, thus generating more subsequent likes and shares, culminating in increased sales. i.e. My best friend sharing the news led to their aunt in America buying my book; my mother sharing the post led to several of her friends buying my book, as well as her cousin in Australia, which in turn led to her daughter and two others in Oz buying it. The ripple effect can be huge.
Blogging: One of the main reasons I set up my blog was to establish a platform through which I could share my work and connect with readers and writers alike. I’ve been thrilled, not only with the like-minded people I have met and the supportive nature of the community, but also because I know I have made sales and brought in a couple of reviews based on these fantastic connections.
Local ads: I ran an ad for three months in a monthly print publication that gets sent to thousands of homes in my local area. It’s near impossible to know how many sales, if any, this actually generated but I did have a few people commenting unprompted that they had seen it and it was nice to know I had done something closer to home.
Online ads: I ran an ad on facebook that got lots of clicks – way more than I had ever anticipated. Again, it’s hard to know what this led to in actual sales and in hindsight, I think I ran it too early, before the book had brought in any customer reviews, which definitely helps lend it some power. It would be interesting to see how one fared in comparison now, though I haven’t heard great things in all honesty.
Promotions: I briefly ran a free promotion of the Kindle version of my book. This led to well in excess of 100 downloads, mostly between the US and UK, with a few elsewhere. Though I obviously didn’t get money from this endeavour, it did directly result in two positive customer reviews on the book’s Amazon UK page, which was a success in my eyes.

I hope that onslaught of information held something of interest for you; be it that it encouraged you to try or even avoid certain methods. It’s important to remember that there is no set formula and it’s a case of finding what works for us as individuals. In light of this, here are a few techniques I hope to try in the future.

Release another book: I remember reading once (I wish I could recall where) that the best way to market a book is to write another one. It makes sense; the first thing we do when we finish a good book is look to see what else the writer has produced, meaning that having several books available can be very useful. It also shows to readers that you are a serious storyteller and not simply a ‘one story wonder’. I’m well on the way to finishing my next book, False Awakening, so this should be achievable in the near future.
Business cards: I must admit I’m not sure how or where I would distribute them yet but I like the idea of having something tangible, like business cards or even personalised bookmarks, to hand out to people. Not everyone has embraced the online world and even more of them still like having something physical they can hold in their hands. You’re a lot more likely to be remembered if you can give someone a visual cue to take home with them than you are if you simply say, “look me up on twitter.”
Social media: I don’t have a business facebook page yet (I shied away from one, saying I wasn’t ‘famous’ enough to warrant one; stupid, I know…) but I do plan to set one up in the future. I am on twitter but don’t yet have a huge following. I often see writers with 20,000 followers and am amazed (before I realise they are following 30,000 people). I would rather take my time to build a following of people whose tweets I’m actually interested in; I don’t want good tweeters lost in a wash of spammy promotion. I’m also a registered author on Goodreads but I haven’t ventured into the site all that much yet. By all means add me or my books and help show me the ropes! (I’d be very grateful). The social media world overall is definitely something I need to increase my presence on; the main focus of which will of course always be my WordPress blog, which has a much more in-depth, interactive and personal feel.

I apologise for rambling on somewhat and good on you if you’ve stuck with me long enough to be reading this. I hope any fellow writers out there found it useful in some capacity. I’d love if you would share your experiences with me in the comments.

What marketing methods have you tried? Which have proven to be successful for you? Do you have any tips you recommend trying?

Glass Heart

As clear as fresh cut crystal,

my glass heart beating with intoxicating love.

Held within your hands

my life at your mercy,

poised to shatter in a deafening silence,

lost to its own irrelevance.

A truth adorned with diamonds

is no less destructive;

do as you will,

my resistance is futile.

Getting Even – Featured Fiction

FF #20

Special Agent Marcus Fenton swallowed back the bile that had gathered in his throat; no matter how many crime scenes he was assigned to, his body responded the same way without fail. And so he stood there, looking like he’d been remoted onto ‘stand-by’, his face momentarily blank of expression.

“Sir, the paramedics are taking the woman now.” The voice barely reached him, struggling to push its way through the wall of thick fog that clouded his mind.

“Right,” Marcus grunted. He shook himself back to reality, the air around him seeming to plummet by twenty degrees or so.  Blood had indiscriminately splashed around the room before him; the pool that had gathered by the body of the John Doe already seeping its way into the oak floorboards beneath. Barely a few paces to the left had been the resting place for the woman, also as yet unnamed. They had found them both like this; door wide open, hands outstretched towards each other, the man already very much dead, his lifeless eyes lingering with the pain of his final moments; the woman barely breathing, her other hand clasped over the stab wound on her stomach.

There was no doubt as to the murder weapon; a blood soaked knife lying discarded by the fireplace as though a proud reminder of a heartless victory. The rest of the room lay dormant under a scattering of letters, each one carefully constructed in a false, unidentifiable script. Anger, vileness and a seething lust for revenge gripped every word of the threats scrawled across the plethora of pages. Threats that promised to see them both be targeted; threats, it seemed, that had been realised. Every photograph that had once been proudly displayed around the homely living room had been smashed, the broken shards of glass from the frames tearing at the images of the formerly happy, young couple.

Marcus moved over to the stretcher onto which the woman had been strapped. Her eyes were wild with fear as beads of sweat trickled down her pale face.

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” Marcus asked, leaning in close.

The response was barely a whisper. “M… Molly.” Her cracked lips parted to try and speak again, her hoarse voice escaping in sporadic rasps. “They… they came… I… warned him… No way out… No way out…”

“It’s okay,” said Marcus, a comforting hand instinctively reaching out for hers. “You’re safe now. It’s over. We’re going to protect you.” He turned his attention to the medical staff poised for his instruction. “Get her to hospital, ASAP.”

With a nod, they wheeled her from the small house and a deafening silence briefly weaved its way back into the desolate space.

“Tragic, isn’t it.” One of Marcus’ co-workers brushed her shoulder against his, sensing the struggle within him. “All of this over money.” The hate-filled letters had already confirmed that the deceased man that still lay before them had become embroiled in thousands of pounds worth of debt to rogue loan-sharks; predators that fed on the vulnerable and would evidently stop at nothing to get even.

“It’s sick.” Marcus sighed, taking his glasses from his face and wiping them against his coat sleeve. “That poor woman probably didn’t even know what was happening until it was too late. She shouldn’t have had to pay for her husband’s mistakes. We can’t let those bastards get away with this.”

As the paramedics slammed the ambulance doors shut and began the journey towards the hospital, Molly’s eyes glazed with a cold stare, her shoulders relaxing and mouth curling into the slightest suggestion of a smile.

 

–

This piece was written in response to the latest prompt over at Featured Fiction. Thanks for reading. 

Rubbing Salt in a Writer’s Wounds

Being a writer isn’t all fun and games.

Should freelance writers be expected to work for free? It’s a question we see a lot and one that holds a personal resonance with me. We all know the harsh reality that no amount of qualifications will help us when a prospective client requests examples of published work; it’s that vicious cycle of needing experience to get work and needing work to get experience – something’s got to give.

I’ve been working on a freelance basis for over 18 months now. I’m not exactly rolling in wads of cash but I am earning money doing a job I love and it supplements my creative writing perfectly. I started out doing largely voluntary work for a local magazine and used that experience to post an ad online and pull in some paying clients; thankfully I’ve largely managed to keep the momentum going since then. Even now however, I still have people approach me with an offer of work, ending their pitch with, “this is an unpaid position but the experience will look great in your portfolio.” No matter how many times I hear that very sentence, it still manages to irk me and on principle, I politely decline.

No other industry gets away with exploiting workers like this and the hardest pill to swallow about it all is that I fear this is in some ways a self-made problem. Writing is a dream job for so many people (the flexible hours, working from home, being creative; it’s great!) but this makes it a very competitive marketplace. In desperation to secure work and get their foot in the door, people started offering their services free of charge, forcing others to do the same if they wanted any chance of pulling in clients. Unfortunately this has allowed many businesses to take advantage of the situation and abuse writers, but it harms everyone; how can clients expect quality content when they offer no money, meaning the work must be completed as an aside to a whole other career?

Imagine the scenario: A plumber completes a call out at your home but upon finding out they have only worked in the industry for a few months, you refuse to pay them, telling them it was valuable practice. Or perhaps you collect your groceries but notice when you go to pay that the cashier is a trainee, so you demand your goods free of charge. Crazy, right? That’s why it would never happen. So why should a writer face the degrading slog of committing their time and effort for little or nothing in return?

All-in-all, I believe working for free in the early days is now an unfortunate truth we must accept and if you’re lucky enough to make it out the other end and earn a living from your work; it soon makes it all worthwhile, but I for one do wish that writers were treated with a little more respect. If a job warrants calling in a professional – however much experience they may or may not have – then in my opinion that person rightfully deserves to be paid.

Do you work on a freelance basis? Do you or have you ever been asked to work for free? Do you think it’s fair to expect this of writers?

Will you?

Will you be the harbour?

The promise of safety in times of stormy weather.

Will you be the sculptor?

The one to mould hope from the dark and smouldering ashes.

Will you be the saviour?

The hands prepared to heal me when I fall from life’s cruel wounds.

Will you be the lifeline?

The one to catch me when the world gives way beneath my feet.

For I will be your confidant.

The one to greet your soft blue eyes at dawn

and hold you when they close for one last time.