A pulp writer's tidal wave

[Writer]

This is my progress thread. After all, it is said that accountability is important in each and every task we do.

Publish a book on Amazon. DONE. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t classify it as a book as it is a simple 1500 words short story, but I did it. I am out in the wild now. I created a cover, which is actually pretty decent, and it is free for the next few days. Out of my comfort zone.

Study e-publishing market.IN PROGRESS I began studying some of the self-pub market, mainly looking at online resources. And this forum.

Write a 10000 wd long story. IN PROGRESS. Last night I wrote the first chapter (about 1500 words), going for the next. I plan to publish it ASAP. This will be the first book I will try to make some money from.

Write more stories. IN PROGRESS. I planned already a few plots, a couple of them in detail.

Publishing house. NOT YET. Long long long term. I have an idea.

Misc. In my presentation thread I said that I would've invested about $10k in AAPL stocks. DONE and made some money out of it. Scared as hell, this is really far away from my comfort zone.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[carozy]

You write fast. How do you come up with ideas? I mean, ideas to start writing. That part is the longest part for me. Do you outline?

 

[Writer]

Having ideas is the easy part, at least for me. They just pop up naturally from observation. The real issue is writing them down.
I am no expert, but I can tell you that I noticed that the more I write, the more ideas I have. It doesn’t matter the genre I am writing at the moment; something else will just appear in my head.
I would suggest you to go to WritersDigest.com and do their (free) weekly prompts. It’s a good community, and writing the prompt is a very good exercise. You will also receive some good feedback.
Another suggestion is to write a draft without striving for perfection. Just write the story down, whatever it is. Then, edit. As Hemingway said, “Write drunk, edit sober”.

As for outlining, I use JK Rowling's method, but I take a lot of liberties from the outline itself.

 

[carozy]

Thanks, I will try your suggestion. I notice also that when I write I get more ideas. The problems is when I'm not writing! I can also be a slow writer. I think that's why I was successful with Nanowrimo. It made me get the words out.

Good luck with your writing. I'll be following along.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mattie]

@Writer Wonderful to hear you're on your journey.

@carozy Writing is just what you see, hear, feel, taste, smell around you. There are ideas everywhere. I get ideas from every where I go. The way the light hits a building. The way the leaves rustle in the wind. The way the willow tree swings the branches. The birds sitting on a lamp post staring at me. Bees hanging out on the porch. It's just placing yourself in your experience.

Eating a Greek or Thai restaurant, sitting on the side of the canal. Walking over a bridge in France with lovers locks on the rails. Walking through a garden. Walking through bunkers from WWII. Museums, Art Galleries, Music, Photographs, and like he says, you just write and write. Allow it to flow naturally. I don't really even think about it. I just use everything for practice every day. The experience of even being in this forum. The characters, the personalities, the comments, the remarks, and any other place I'm sitting.

You just pay attention to details. Pay attention to way the people move, brush their hair back, smile, the way their eyes twitch. The way the room smells, the candle flame bends, the way a fish swims in an aquarium. The last three years I've just paid attention to everything, and learned how to put it in writing. Although, I wasn't one to rush into publishing and getting into that now.

Words are kind of like painting. You have to know the flavor and how it blends in together with other words. What are you trying to describe?

 

[carozy]

Thanks for the guidance Mattie. I have not tried the write-everyday approach, but I just got a laptop, so maybe now I should. I know I can write off an outline/structure, because I've done that in college and somewhat for Nanowrimo. I just feel I have a lot more fuel sometimes and it's easy to write because I know what I want to say, or how the story will go, or at least, some of it. I'm working on it. I'll try doing some free-writes. That's recommended a lot in writing books too.

Sorry for hijacking your journal Writer!

 

[Writer]

Short Update after my first three days as a published author.
I put the book for free, so far twenty copies have been borrowed/bought. I reached a good position in the ranks of my very limited genre. Surprisingly, buyers were from several countries, including Japan. Majority is, of course, from US. Even more surprising, no one reviewed my work. I would rather have honest negative feedback than complete silence. Oh, well.
Designing a decent cover made the difference.
I also noticed a spike of sales on the first day, than less, than even less. I guess I have to figure out a way to keep the interest up, and make the book more visible, although I selected a very narrow field on purpose.
In addition:
- Book 2: halfway through writing it.
- Book 3: halfway through writing it.
- Book 4 (and 5): planned. In addition, I had several other ideas.
- Received my first professional rejection ever from a famous magazine. The editor was very kind and replied with very specific comments.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[ChickenHawk]

Even more surprising, no one reviewed my work. I would rather have honest negative feedback than complete silence. Oh, well.

Don't let this discourage you. Sadly, only a very, VERY small percentage of book-buyers leave a review. You may want to try giving away copies to friends or family and ask for reviews from them to get the ball rolling.

Congrats on your progress so far!

 

[Lex DeVille]

I have 20 books out now, spread across several genres and I'm pretty sure none of them have reviews from customers outside TMF Forums.

As long as they're selling, consider it a good sign.

 

[Writer]

I have 20 books out now, spread across several genres and I'm pretty sure none of them have reviews from customers outside TMF Forums.

As long as they're selling, consider it a good sign.

ahahha well, yes. So far I made $0... but hey, soon I will make my first cent, then my first dollar and so on. When I reach my first billion, beer is on me.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Mattie]

Ha..Ha...yes I'm one of those people that read books and bad at leaving reviews. I don't think reviews always give you the big picture. You'll see eventually you sell more books than you'll ever have reviews.

 

[Writer]

Ha..Ha...yes I'm one of those people that read books and bad at leaving reviews. I don't think reviews always give you the big picture. You'll see eventually you sell more books than you'll ever have reviews.

As a matter of fact... I never review on amazon, however I am pretty good on Goodreads. I never trusted Amazon's review system.

UPDATE: I finally received my first review. It's less than stellar, one star! I checked the reviewer's profile and noticed that she gives only one star. I am kinda happy for two reasons. 1) I need feedback. 2) The negative comment was more on generic terms than complaints about my language (I am ESL), and I figured she never read Hemingway. In addition I noticed that as soon as she reviewed, my sales went up. I wonder if it has anything to do with Amazon's algorithm.

One more thing. While in the past I would've been destroyed by a negative result, this time I was kinda glad. An old Kevin J. Anderson answer to a Dune-fanatic that was insisting that he had to stop writing the new Dune series was what popped in my mind: "I will keep writing until people like you are satisfied of my product."

 

[Writer]

mistake!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Lauryn]

Reviews are important but even bad reviews help sell the book. They have no impact.
I have a book that has a 2 star rating. (LMFAO) and it's the best selling book I have. People feel that strongly for and against it. I don't get it, I don't... lmao

 

[Writer]

Reviews are important but even bad reviews help sell the book. They have no impact.
I have a book that has a 2 star rating. (LMFAO) and it's the best selling book I have. People feel that strongly for and against it. I don't get it, I don't... lmao

I guess it's a sort of miniaturized "Da Vinci Code" effect (or "Fifty Shades of Gray")

 

[Mattie]

I read tons of books, but to tell you the truth when it comes to a book I don't even read the reviews at all. I usually read the description of the book and the cover usually catches my eye. On the other hand I don't judge a book by it's cover or reviews. I read the first chapter and if it doesn't keep me interested I just close it and move on. It's easier to do just by reading the part they allow you too, before buying. I can usually tell if I like the writer or not.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Writer]

Quick update.
My "test" ebook was downloaded more than I expected, however now that it's up for payment it has zero traffic, not even from Kindle Unlimited. I have to find a way to push the book into someone's hands. Total revenue is thus $0.00. I wished for at least a few cents!
Next book is going to be ready soon, it's going to be much longer. I plan to sell it for $3.99, but instead of giving it away for free I will lower the price to $0.99 for a few days.

 

[Writer]

Brief Update and resource sharing.
My second short story is at almost 5000 words now, I plan to finish it very very soon. I might go with an all-nighter this Friday.
I am also planning my next story, a not-so-cozy mystery. If you’re interested in the genre, I picked up these resources at the local library:

- Just the facts, ma'am : a writer's guide to investigators and investigation techniques by Fallis, Greg.

- Modus operandi : a writer's guide to how criminals work by Corvasce, Mauro

- Rip-off : a writer's guide to crimes of deception by Faron, Fay

- Private eyes : a writer's guide to private investigating by Blythe, Hal

- Police procedure & investigation : a guide for writers by Lofland, Lee

They are all part of a series of books titled “Howdunit”, and it’s very well done. So if you want to get into the mystery field you should definitely check ‘em out.

 

[carozy]

Those look helpful! Thanks for sharing.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Writer]

More a general update rather than a "publishing" one.

Finances: Hurrah! Two credit cards out of three are now paid in full. Reduced monthly expenses by changing electricity and internet provider, cut off satellite TV. I might remove Netflix and just keep Hulu (with kids you need some TV available...). Most of the movies are available at the library where I work, so I have virtually unlimited free movies and books. Next step is to pay off my iPhone subsidy and reduce the monthly bill. I swear than unless necessary I will never pay for a smartphone using subsidies again. Pay in full, or nothing.

Writing: writing my second short book is taking a little bit more than expected, simply because it's ... bigger than what I've planned. At this point I am going for the 15k/20k word count. I will have to figure out how to edit it effectivly. I reached a word count of 1000 words an hour, the more I write the easier it is.

Ideas: I am elaborating my first long novel. I got all of it together, I need to do some more research and "glue" the plots. Other than that, I could write my first novel quite soon (80k word count)

Stocks: My small investment on Apple stocks is going up and down, as expected. I can see that the stocks' trend is moving up, but it is a slow process as there is a lot of trade speculation. Again, with my investment I am not planning on making rich, but one unexpected side effect I noticed of going out of my comfort zone is that I am NOT panicking when the stocks go down.

 

[Writer]

sorry double post. See above.

 

[Writer]

Update.
1) today marks the 1st anniversary of my layoff. It still hurts, although I can't say I haven't learned a few lessons.
2) My second story reached 9000 words, which is a personal record. I wrote a bit less in the past few days due to some extra stuff I wanted to investigate on.
3) I would say that my novel planning is almost finished.

4) I badly need a passive income, and go relax and read for a month.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Draven Grey]

Your progress is inspiring, even if it's not where you want it to be yet. In fact, I think I'll write a new progress post of my own. Keep it up!

 

[Zen_Ballz]

How is your novel coming alone? Are you still at it?

 

[Writer]

Wow, thank you for digging up this old thread. Re-reading myself one year ago is somewhat bittersweet.
I was going to wait a couple of more weeks before giving an update, but since you ask here's what I can tell you.

My novel is dead. The reason? I shot it, and then I buried it. After reading some of the threads in the reserved area last year I noticed one huge flaw in my reasoning: I was doing what I was doing because I wanted to fulfill a dream (mild depression?), not because I wanted to give an amazing product, and be valuable. I wanted to be that writer that lives in a house by the beach, listening to the sound of the breaking waves, breathing the breezy air. So, after some introspection I started looking around, looking at my life not as a chronological history but as a set of experiences. Doing that, I noticed a common thread and I noticed some skill and knowledge that I didn't value before. It's no secret that I work in government, so I can give you that what I am doing is somewhat related. In the past year I dumped most of the fictional books I used to read (I sold hundreds), and I began reading business books, articles, listening to youtube videos etc. And, most especially, I acted upon it. I met extraordinary people, I met successful people, senators, mayors etc. I was even asked to give a brief speech in front of representative, senators and millionaire (and I hate public speaking... that's why I am joining Toastmasters). To paraphrase Woody Allen, I just began doing half of life, which is just showing up.
I had one big problem: I was lacking a product of possible value (and one day you might enter in the equation). I found it three days ago. Yes, three days ago. Instead of asking for permission, or keeping planning and planning again (I suffer from PA big time... even as a boardgamer!) I just started it. Domain registered, hosted the website, started the work etc. Then I asked to a very famous Internet blogger an opinion: he loved it.
Then I asked to a local millionaire: he loved it.
I asked a state politician: he loved it.
I asked a couple more people: they loved it.
My wife doesn't even know what it is, I just told her that I am doing something, and I am doing it at full speed ahead. At this point I can't stop.
It will take time, especially framing the product while I become more experienced. But here I am, I finally found my niche... and then I realized that it was in front of me the whole time.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Draven Grey]

Great for you, man!

I've run a lot of different businesses based upon either my interest or expertise combined with what I thought I would enjoy and saw that that market needed. This was in contrast to what the market thought it needed or was looking for. I did well with each business, to a degree. But ultimately I had to drop them. My choosing to write fiction isn't based on what I think the market is lacking or my own enjoyment (although I do enjoy it), but rather off of lean canvasing and then interviewing many people that fit my ideal fan; even keeping them part of the ongoing conversation as I write. I let my ideal fan (in short, those I most easily connect with and draw to me) tell me what to do in their own words. That's how The Silent Still developed our live show and music as well, not just the stories.

I'm definitely super excited to be finally adding value based upon what the market is telling me, rather than what I think it needs. From the looks of it, you're experiencing that same type of excitement. Awesome!

 

[Zen_Ballz]

This sounds Amazeballs!! love how excited you are about the idea.
can't wait to hear more feel free to hit me up if you think I can be of any help.

Ps. and congratz on that public speaking thingy, that's a major hurdle formats people, but super trainable!