Baju 1IA03

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Hillary Duff pop art

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Raisa pop art

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Writing Matters

I've been making weird use of my time these past few weeks, doing something that is antithetical to blogging about the publishing world.

I've been writing.

Right now we're in the middle of a revolution. These are exciting times. It's easy to get caught up in the ebook/self-publishing momentum and spend all of your time thinking about how to publicize your books, or position them correctly, or decide which platforms to commit to.

But at the end of the day, the one thing that truly matters is writing a good story. Because without that, there is nothing to sell.

This is a Newbie's Guide to Publishing, not a Newbie's Guide to Writing, so I don't blog about the craft too often. Writers come here seeking information about Amazon and the Big 6 and agents, not about narrative structure and characterization.

That doesn't mean you should ignore narrative structure and characterization.

There has been much speculation about why some writers hit it big via self-publishing. We all wonder how John Locke sold 1,000,000, or how Amanda Hocking made $1,000,000. In the last two weeks my writing buddy Blake Crouch has made more than $40k on his thriller ebook RUN (incidentally, that brilliant book was rejected by every major NY publisher). I just had two back-to-back $75k months. There are always new stories of some indie writer making big money, or cracking the NYT bestseller list.

But very few talk about the essential ingredient in a successful ebook. Namely, the book itself.

Locke, Hocking, and Crouch are good storytellers. They've worked very hard on their craft. Their books entertain, and when someone reads one they tell other people about it and recommend it. While there isn't any book that pleases everyone, if you look at these writers' reviews on Amazon you'll see they're averaging about 4 stars, and they've been reviewed hundreds and hundreds of times.

I've also seen the opposite thing happen. A book has a good cover and a few 5 star shills, and it does well for a few weeks, and then because it isn't very good the 1 star reviews take over, killing its sales. If you put a fresh coat of paint on a turd, it's still a turd.

The writing counts.

If you're a writer in 2012, it's important to be savvy about social networking, publicity, marketing, platforms, covers, formats, and all the things associated with self-publishing and ebooks.

But the most important thing is the book itself.

My 14 year old son is writing a story. He sees Dad making a lot of money, talking about how ebooks will earn forever, and I'm pretty sure he thinks Kindle is a one-way ticket to fame and fortune.

A few days ago I finished the final draft of Timecaster Supersymmetry, and celebrated with the prerequisite bottle of expensive beer (a Bruery Black Tuesday). The following day, when he came home from school, he saw me at the computer and asked if I was working on a new book.

"No. Still working on Timecaster."

"But you said you were finished."

"I am. I'm just not finished with being finished."

I love writing. I loved it for the 12 years where I didn't sell a single thing, and I've loved it for the 12 years I've been a professional. I have all the conceits that every writer has. I think about my characters as if they're real people. I dream about scenes. I secretly believe my stories are the best in the world. I laugh at my own jokes, cry at the emotional parts, and often dislocate my elbow patting myself on the back after a good bit of dialog or a fun twist. Being a writer does more than define me; it isn't a job, it's a way of life. And when I put my life out there for the world to see, I want it to be the very best that I am capable of. I want readers to enjoy it as much as I have. I want every chapter, every scene, every sentence to be deliberate, to convey exactly what I want it to convey.

Do you know what the real definition of success is? It isn't about how many books you sell, or how much money you make. It isn't about winning awards, or getting great reviews. It isn't about having fans.

A successful writer is one who can defend every single word in their story. Because the ones they can't defend should get cut.

It isn't easy doing that. It takes a lot of time, a lot of commitment, a lot of work. But it's work I embrace, because I'm having a lifelong love affair with storytelling, and I want to keep getting better until the day I die.

I'll never be finished with being finished.

When my son asks me to read his story, I know what he wants to hear. He wants to be told it is brilliant, and wants me to upload it to my Kindle account, and wants to buy a car with all the money he thinks he's going to make even though he's still too young to drive.

But praise is like candy. Even though we love it, it isn't good for us. So I'm going to be critical. I'm going to tell him exactly what is wrong with his story, and why, and try to get him to figure out on his own how to fix those problems.

If he's got the bug, he'll rewrite. And rewrite again, and again, and again until the story works and he knows exactly why it works. Then he'll be ready to self-publish.

That's what all of us should be doing.

If you love writing, and you know you're doing it right, readers will find you.

Keep at it until they do.

Pitch Pitch - two novels today

Two pitches for novels today and, as last week, I have no time to add my comments as I’d wish so, it’s over to you, readers. You should know the form by now but if not, scroll down to last week’s pitch or put the words Pitch Pitch in the search box on the right.
Constructive comments, please, and don’t forget to say whether you are normally a fan of this genre.
The Apprentice – a historical novel

I love my job

Posted by Jean Adams

I have spent the last week trying my best to write another grant application in the few spare hours that manage to survive among the sea of student supervision, project meetings, teaching, and helping people to calculate Index of Multiple Deprivation scores that dominate my diary. What I want to do is focus on my grant application. What I’m actually doing is feeling harassed and resentful of all the other things I have to do. So I thought it might be time for a Pollyanna moment and reflection on all the things that make my job great. 

Pollyanna

1. My diary is flexible and varied. I don’t have a typical day or week or month. This makes it difficult when people ask me to tell them about "a normal week”. And sometimes it catches me out when I forget to check my diary and saunter on into work in jeans when I should be wearing a skirt (see point 2 below). But ultimately I love the variation. I particularly love that I am in charge and that I can say Fridays are working at home days without anyone thinking that it’s totally inappropriate. 

2. I get to wear jeans to work on most days. The novelty of this is wearing off a bit, but when I swapped clinical medicine for academia it was certainly one of the most amazing perks. I hate wearing stupid tights. I look fat and short in ‘smart trousers’. Besides, I am not very accomplished at clothes shopping, but I do know which jeans I like (Levi 571 slim fit since you asked - I don't think they make them any more but I have three pairs so am good for a while).

3. I get to speak to interesting people. It would be nice if I truly did spend my days sitting around, drinking coffee and speaking to interesting people. I don’t. However, I do, on occasion, get the chance to speak to some really interesting people. I am currently cultivating a collaboration with an evolutionary behavioural anthropologist sort of person who might be one of the cleverest and most interesting people I’ve ever met. I am also enjoying getting to know our not so new anymore health psychologists. And despite the stupid amounts of driving involved in a regional research centre, I do enjoy hanging out with many of my Fuse friends.

4. I get to travel. Actually I really don’t like the act of travelling. But I like what it gets me – which is mostly getting to speak to other interesting people. I'm just a public health gossip. On my travels recently I have met remarkably interesting and clever psychologists, GPs, sociologists and one guy who certainly thought he was interesting, but who I just found obnoxious.

5. I get to learn new things all the time. Right now I am most excited about the fact that I blagged the time and money to do a Postgraduate Certificate in Science Communication on work. Fantastic teaching, fantastic coursemates, annoying amount of travel and coursework. But it gave me the motivation to start this blog and maybe it will lead to some other exciting things soon.

So there. I am very grateful to the universe for setting it up so that I got this job. Thank you.

Now I need all the other nonsense to go away so that I can write my grant.

Pitch Pitch - three YA/12+ pitches

In an effort to get through the backlog of pitches that brave writers have sent in, I’m putting up three teenage/YA pitches in one go. If you aren’t familiar with this incredibly useful and popular exercise, do go and read some of the comments on recent pitches. (Put Pitch Pitch in the search box at top right.). If you’d like to pitch your own book and get help from my highly constructive readers