Three long drafts in, and I’ve finally written the words ‘The End’ - it isn’t really, there will be one more draft after I get feedback from my test readers, but as milestones go it felt pretty good. Between work, polishing up Star Wormwood, and writing The Silent Army, I have to confess I’m a little beat and with a block of time off coming up, I’m looking forward to kicking back and reading a book instead of writing one. A little time away helps, too, I find. When it’s time to attack the final draft, I’ll have new energy and perspective (plus the feedback is always helpful).
Some read faster than others, but I predict everyone will be ready to meet at the end of January / beginning of February. That will give me two months for another draft and any final polishing I’ll want to do, then it will go off to my agent.
After that, Book Three…
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. . .
Posted in The Silent Army, Writing.
On the advice of my agent, I picked up a book called Guerrilla Marketing for Writers and it looks like it’s going to be very helpful. It’s full of good ideas, but first and foremost it confirmed something I sort of already believed to be true; I’m going to have to market this book almost entirely myself, and if I want it to succeed, I have to learn to do it well. I might get on this topic repeatedly, since I’m kind of figuring it out as I go.
I’ve got some ideas for some flashy viral stuff as the publication date gets closer, but the real meat I think will be in the fifty or so things I’ve seen in the book so far that I didn’t really think about like what simple networking might actually involve, who to network with and how to go about it. It will cost some money, which I don’t mind doing, but it will also involve networking, and image, two things I’m not so good at. Years of working in the high-tech field have burned in some habits I’m going to need to unlearn; here, it doesn’t matter who I know, or what I wear, what matters is what I can do. I’ve done well in this field not because I’m some kind of guru but because I’ve learned to spot what skills are valuable, difficult, and in short supply and put my energies into those. In this field, if you do that, work hard, and aren’t a complete pain in the ass, you’ll be in demand (assuming your company doesn’t fail or your job get outsourced to someone willing to work for string).
My point is, I haven’t had to really market myself to a broad audience. This isn’t a ‘You need ‘x’ done, and I can do ‘x’ for you’ situation, this is a ‘My individual bit of snow in the media static you are confronted with daily is worth your attention’. I do feel like I have a good handle on what gets people’s attention, what makes my shiny object shiny, but the wording in my contract was actually a good lesson of where my shortcomings lie. When asked ‘What is your book about’ for the first time, I tried to explain all the plot threads and how they all wove together, and that was the wrong thing to do. When my contract arrived, right on page one, there was one line provided to describe the plot. They had written: ‘Three books in a future where zombies and psychics war in a pitch for power.’ That doesn’t begin to explain the whole of the story, but it’s catchy. It’s shiny. It’s accurate enough, and I think that description might make someone look a little closer.
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Posted in Writing.
This isn’t actually news to me so much as a confirmation, but it looks like the date for the release of REVIVORS will be sometime in January of 2010. This is basically the figure my editor Jessica Wade gave me early on when we first spoke on the phone, so I’ve known this. A lot of people ask me when is it coming out, though, and so my blanket answer is that yes, the contract is signed and the books are going to be published, the first one just won’t see print until early 2010. After that, they will come out a year apart for each of the sequels, I believe.
When I first heard the timeline yes, I’ll admit I was disappointed, but honestly that was before I began work on the second book. The way I look at it now is that if the first book comes out 14-15 months from now, then the second book will be in and the third book nearing its final draft by that time. I can concentrate more fully on pitching it, and I’ll be able to enjoy the entire experience more, I think, with the tale fully told. That, and I’ll have the luxury of digging into whatever project comes next, several ideas for which are already simmering back there on the rear burner.
Posted in Writing.
Tagged with editor, publisher, Revivors, Writing.
This is new territory for me, at least on the writing front. I guess it could be argued that pitching short stories and novels to magazines/publishers/agents is a form of self promotion, but I’m talking about actually marketing a product. Aside from posting about it here, which has a rather limited audience, how do I stir up interest in my book?
From what I understand, the publisher does have a promotional budget for the book, but my expectation is that it will be pretty small. I am one of many authors they will be publishing, and really, at the end of the day, no one cares more than I do about getting my book in as many hands as possible. I’ve put a lot of heart and soul into this endeavor, and I want to reach as many people as I can. I want people to read what I have written. How does one go about convincing people who are assaulted by media every minute of every day that my story is worth the investment of both their money and their time?
Having a good product makes a huge difference, I think, but I also think that a good salesman can sell more units of a bad product than a bad salesman could sell of a good product. Right now I feel like a bad salesman with a good product. How do I fix this?
I contacted my agent, and he provided me with some good suggestions. The first was to join the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America)…it turns out to do this you have to actually fill out an application and cite at least one novel sale to a qualifying house, or three short story sales that qualify. ‘Qualify’ in this case seems to mean basically a paying market that is not The Armpit Press or some POD deal. You’ve got to pay dues as well; I’m fine with both of those things as the benefits include access to a grievance committee, book audits, and basically access into a larger pond.
He had other suggestions as well; I’ll post more as I explore them individually. If anyone out there has any information or trade tricks they want to share, feel free to chime in since as I said, this is new territory for me.
Posted in Writing.
Tagged with marketing, self promotion, Writing.
I suppose it was official before, but now it just somehow feels more official - yesterday I got a piece of mail from my agent Jack Byrne containing my copy of the contract, and my advance check. I am officially a paid author. Someone paid me to do the thing I love.
On a less upbeat note, I recently found out my old high school English teacher Richard Tappan had a stroke not long ago. He survived it, and is currently on the road to recovery. I don’t know exactly what that road will entail, but I know it will be difficult and I’m really pulling for him. I mention him here because it reminded me not only of how long I’ve been writing, but of how important encouragement and guidance can be, especially when you’re young. In some ways I think he believed in me before I did, and as I reach this milestone, his influence is definitely felt.
I only just received the letter yesterday so I’m not sure what the next step is. I assume my editor will contact me before long, something I am looking forward to.
Posted in Writing.
Tagged with agent, publishing, Revivors, science fiction, Writing.
One of the most challenging and most fun aspects of writing a sequel is bringing back the established characters, only now with the experience of the time which passed between the two books under their belts (two years, in this case). After the events of the first book, and what occurred during our time away from them, they can not stay the same as they were. Deciding how these experiences would alter them while still leaving their core personalities intact is like a particularly interesting puzzle.
How do our experiences change us? It depends on the person. A lot of times I think it’s more obvious to others than to ourselves, but no matter who we are, they shape our attitudes and opinions. In turn those affect our future actions, which invariably affect our future experiences, and so on. A particular event may skew us in a radically different direction, or it may just shake, or even change, one fundamental belief.
One mandate I gave myself when I started this project was that each character would end up a very different person than they began over the course of each book, but particularly over the course of the series. I knew where I wanted them to begin, where I wanted them to end, and how they would get there, but the details of how their experiences really change them is turning out to be one of the more rewarding parts of writing The Silent Army.
Posted in Revivors, The Silent Army, Writing.
Tagged with book, change, character development, publish, Revivors, sci fi, science fiction, silent army.
Maybe it’s unwarranted, but I was nervous when it came time to ship off the final of APPLE (which I have tentatively retitled STAR WORMWOOD). I was nervous when I shipped off REVIVORS as well, but I thought maybe this time I would be less nervous. It’s not a bad kind of nervous, and maybe it’s something I should try and keep since it causes me to obsess over my drafts, but there’s definitely a moment when you hand over something you’ve put some heart and soul into to someone and then wait for the reaction to come. This seems to go double when handing it over to a pro. I’ve heard from my test readers, incorporated feedback, edited and polished…will it be enough? Is there even a market for this type of story? I wrote the initial drafts before I was accepted by my agent as a client, is it something he can get behind?
I hope the answers to those questions are yes, but I will know soon enough. In the meantime, I have more than enough to keep me busy with REVIVORS and THE SILENT ARMY.
Posted in Writing.
Tagged with agent, Apple, publish, sci fi, science fiction, star wormwood, virus, wormwood, Writing.
From what I understand it typically takes a long time for a contract to be drawn up but not as long as it took this particular time; the delay was the result of Ace’s contract department being shorthanded, so I wouldn’t assume it’s average but then I only have the one to go on.
Having seen the contract, I was very glad that I have an agent to take care of the particulars. When he first discussed the details with the publisher there were some changes he wanted made, and he also looked over the final contract to make sure everything looked good. When it finally arrived on my doorstep, I saw that it was around ten pages long, legal pad size, with rather small print. Each page was filled top to bottom with language I could decipher but not without reading it carefully. I could have agonized over evey paragraph for days but I didn’t have to because Jack knows more about book contracts than I may ever know and he did that for me - I read it to see if I had any questions I wanted to ask, then signed it.
I have to say, signing felt good. I had no reason to think things would fall through at the last second, but I think some part of me was holding back getting too excited until my signature was on it and everything was official. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited before, I’m just even more excited now.
In his cover letter, Jack closed by saying ‘Congratulations James, you’re on your way’ and I think that got me more than anything else. I have big plans brewing; having gotten this opportunity, I intend to keep working as hard as I can, and drive this thing as far as I can make it go…
Posted in Revivors, Writing.
Tagged with agent, book, contract, novel, publishing, Revivors.
There are three things I’ve learned so far in this endeavor that I think are really important. Everyone writes differently so you may disagree, but for my money those things are:
Get Feedback
Feedback from an early draft (I never show the first but I’ll let people read the second) will benefit the book tremendously, as long as the feedback is good. I don’t mean that the feedback has to be all positive, but if you can find someone willing to do it who is smart, who reads, who you trust to give constructive criticism, and who is not afraid to speak their mind, then I don’t think you can go wrong. Listen to what they say. Even though your book is really close to you resist the impulse to defend your work and instead just absorb what you’re hearing. You don’t have to follow every suggestion but I think learning to listen to them is key.
Don’t get overly attached to anything you’ve written
No matter how cool it played out in your mind it might just not work for your readers and being stubborn about it isn’t going to help the story as a whole. Be prepared to rework or even replace your favorite scene in the book. I’m finding that sometimes a bit may not work in one story but then find a home later on in a different one.
Don’t forget to breathe
Stepping away from a project then coming back to it later helps a lot, at least for me. I don’t let myself do this in mid-draft unless I find I’m just pushing food around my plate but even then I don’t do it long. After say a second draft, though, it really pays off for me to walk away and work on something else for a while. When I come back to it, as I will shortly with APPLE, I find I’ve got totally renewed energy and a ton of fresh new ideas for it to make it better. That combined with the feedback should spell a productive third draft.
Posted in Writing.
Tagged with Apple, knowledge, learning, process, Writing.
Ok the first test read is in; my wife finished up and once again came through with detailed and valuable feedback. I’ll hear from the others this weekend and see what I’ve got then as the first draft of THE SILENT ARMY wraps up I think I’ll take a breather from it and tackle the APPLE rewrite which should only take a couple of weeks.
First thing that needs to go is the title (I have no delusions about my title picking; I am not good at it) then there is some rework to do. Good test readers will find a lot of leaks and the initial discussion we had about it has totally got me ready to dive back in. The time away from the project has also given me a new perspective on certain things. Once I’ve got my ducks in a row I’ll forward it to my agent and see what he thinks.
Posted in Apple, Writing.
Tagged with Apple, black slime, flesh eating bacteria, horror, publishing, science fiction, Writing.