Love Your One-Star Reviews

Congrats, you finally got the manuscript published - you know, the one you've been working on for three years. You've toiled away at the keyboard, typed until your fingers were stubs, and finally, it is finished. Time to pop it up on the Big A and see how many copies you sell.

Here Comes The Good Stuff

You're smart; you've lined people up to do some reviews right away; good thinking. This way your novel won't look like to typical "thrown together, rushed indie booklet" you hear so much about. With some actual reviews, hey you stand a chance of getting more readers.

So, Uncle Fred gives you four stars, your mom - five stars (thanks mom), and your neighbor gives you another four star review. Then you stupid cousin from Idaho, the one you doubted you should even send a copy to in the first place, nails you with three stars. A fun delightful read that shows much promise for this author. Perhaps a run through an editor might have helped. That's the last time you ever use him, that's for sure.

Now, The Interesting Happens

Several complete strangers purchase your book and leave a review. Another four-star, which basically says the reader liked it; and a three star where the writer goes on and on about what a great book it was. While this review confuses you, you decide you'll take three stars any day. This is your debut novel, after all.

Thus far, you have six reviews. Your average review score is 3.83; not bad, all things considered. You'll take this for now. Better are right around the corner. Each day you see that you sell a book or two. It won't be long before another couple four and five-star reviews hit the page.

Then, The Bottom Drops Out

A few days later you check your review summary, and you notice the total is 8. Hot Dog, two more reviews. But then your heart skips a beat or two as you stare at your average score. How that heck did it drop to 3.25, you ask yourself?

Here's how: The next reviewer gave it two stars. A quick read, without much substance. Maybe the author's next book will be better. You brush this aside by rolling your eyes; what does this person know about literature?

And then you spot your very first one-star review. Your lips tighten, your stomach knots, you feel your fists balling up. Perhaps the worst book I've ever read, if I could have finished it. Don't waste your money on this drivel. And don't quit your day job, Mr. Author.

If you could form a rational thought at this moment, you might count to ten and take the good with the bad. But you can't. This isn't just a one-star review, it's a personal attack on you!

Here's How You Need To Handle This

1. Do not (I repeat, DO NOT) send a response to this reviewer. So they didn't like your book; not everyone will. And that is the plain and painful truth.

2. Do not get another bunch of your friends to write you sterling five-star reviews to help raise your score. People will see through this tactic. Any book that is five-star heavy, with minimal one and two-star ratings, is suspect to many readers. They figure you got your entire neighborhood to tip the scales (and they're right, aren't they?).

3. Sit Back and Relax. You have officially become a real-life author. I truly believe that until you get blasted like this (it's a reality check for most), you're just putzing around in the minor leagues. You earn your stripes, your chance at the "bigs", and a lot of humility by having one-star reviews.

Let's take any old big title - how about 1984? I just checked on Amazon, here are the stats for Mr. Orwell's classic. The overall rating for this novel is 4.5 on Amazon. Hey, that's pretty darn good. But, and listen to this, there are 279 two and one-star reviews (that's 5% people). This should tell you with no room for doubt, not everyone is going to love your book (or any book for that matter).

I know one-star reviews aren't fun. I have a few in my camp. Six on book one alone (and that's 12%, ugh!). But they come with the territory, I know that now. So, as difficult as this sounds - enjoy them. You've made it my friend!


Until next week, here's hoping you don't live in Boston. Man, they have way too much snow out there; too much for even a Minnesnowta guy like me. I bet ebooks are selling good in New England this winter.


e a lake

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Marketing for Writing Dummies

After more than a year of being a published author, I feel like I've learned some lessons along the way. Dare I say, I'm beginning to feel like an expert in some areas of the independent author game. Remember how Twain defined an Expert: Anyone more than 20 miles from their hometown, carrying a briefcase. In truth, I may not be an expert, but I have learned a little about this book marketing game.

Step One: It Takes Money to Succeed

This may seem obvious, but trust me when I tell you it's not. And any sliver of success in marketing is always based on trial and error.

We all know the story of Hugh Howey, right? Hugh wrote the Wool series and has sold approximately a gazillion books over the past six years or so. Everyone I know likes to point to Hugh's huge following like it can happen to all. When Hugh published the first version of Wool, more of a short story than a novella he admits, the title took off like it was on fire. The secret to his success? Well, it wasn't a big marketing budget because Hugh admits he didn't spend a dime on marketing his first book.

Here's a hard truth for the rest of us: We ain't Hugh Howey. It may happen to the occasional author, but it has about the same odds as winning the lottery this week.

Most of us are going to have to spend some of our otherwise hard-earned money if we expect to see any traction for our titles. But what's the right amount, people ask? Truth be told, no one seems to know. But, dare I say, it's more than zero.

I have several writing friends whom I share ideas with from time to time. One person asked me a while back, how book one in my WWIV series did so well. They were comparing our debut novels; I'd sold about 2,000 copies, they - about 20. When I asked how much they'd spent on marketing, the answer shocked me. Zero, nothing, zilch. That, my friends, is not the correct answer in this case.


Step Two: Spend Your Money Wisely

Let's just get right to the point on this step; I have no idea where you need to invest your cash. I know where I've spent cash in the past, and I can sure tell you (in a general tone) what has and hasn't worked.

One great idea - Sign up for a Book Blog Tour. I spent about $150 one a twelve stop tour about three weeks after the release of my first book. I experienced immediate results in my sales numbers as the tour progressed. In a very unscientific study, I figured I sold approximately $345 in books as a direct effect of the tour. If I could triple my money on every investment, this would be an easy game.

One not so great idea - Make a trailer and do literally nothing with it, except publish it to YouTube. Next, if you really want to watch you cash dissolve, promote it on said channel. Be, sure like me, to direct the watchers of your trailer absolutely nowhere when they finish. Don't send them to your web page, don't bother creating a landing page, and have absolutely no call to action when they are done viewing the video.

Book trailers can be a great marketing plan. Promoting them on YouTube is a sound idea. Just learn from my mistakes and have a slightly better plan going into the promotion. (In my defense, I had no idea what I was doing. But I still managed to spend several hundreds of dollars and received almost 6,000 views. I don't think any of this sold a single book, but I sure liked watching the counter go higher and higher each day).

Step Three: Be Patient and Don't Give Up

Try something, give marketing a shot. Tell yourself you're willing to spend $250 this quarter in marketing. Do some research and find out what's worked for others. Two things will happen: 1) it will force you to actually speak with (or email) other authors - people in the same boat as yourself, and, 2) you may find something that works for you. You never know until you actually try.

But a word for the wise, other people's results may not be the experience you achieve. For example, if I ask my friend the romance writer what she does for marketing, I may get a different result than her from my post-apocalyptic novel. You may have to try and find success more than once. That's usually the way this works.

Do your research, do it well. One common phrase you will hear when it comes to marketing and success is this: There is no one secret formula. Every writer's experience is different. Be ready for that going in. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

I'm sorry I couldn't divulge any great marketing secrets for you. There just aren't any. So get out there, spend a few bucks, and find something that works for you. If you're not in the mood to spend money, research free book marketing and see what you can come up with. Or, try to become the next Hugh Howey - good luck one that one!


Thanks for reading this post, and have a great week!


e a lake

My Books:

                        

The Irrational Fear of Publishing

There are two types of fear in life:

Rational & Irrational

Our job, actually mine today, is to help you determine whether your fear of publishing your manuscript - that you've been working on for the past decade - is rational (or not).

The largest fear of publishing your baby is the fear of failure. What happens if no one buys my book, you ask. Well, that's a good point. Based on available stats, you won't sell a whole lot of copies of your first novel. Some, not a lot - but some, will sell zero! Now that makes the anxiety level of a normal person increase 100 fold. But should you let it be your prevailing fear?

NO! Regardless of how your book sells...

You are a HUGE success by just getting it published. Think about it this way: There are about 9 billion people in the world. Currently, there are something like 4 million books available on Amazon. If we use these basic numbers, and if we assume every two books represent one author, you are in a class of 0.022 people in the world who have published. And that's GREAT!

Publishing is scary, but the fear of publishing is IRRATIONAL

At least that's how I see it; this publishing game. Think of it another way: One out of the next 4,500 people you meet (on average) has actually published a novel. In the US alone, there are approximately 15,000 towns and villages of that size (around 4,500). That makes you a big fish in a small pond. Of course, there are probably more authors per capita in the US than any other country, so maybe a lot of us are small fish in a large lake. But the point is:

By self-publishing your novel, you have succeeded 

And isn't that something? I sure believe it is.

Let's look at another irrational fear that has been ingrained in humans for millennia. It's the fear of Canis Lupus - the wolf.

For some reason, we here in North America have a huge fear of wolves. And for the most part this fear is irrational - extremely irrational.

The last fatal predatory wolf attack in the contiguous 48 states was back in 1888. That's more than 125 years ago. The last two documented non-fatal  attacks both occurred in Minnesota (yay - where I live - boo). The most recent attack took place in 2013. Before that, it was 1988. That's 25 years between attacks.

Let's look at the wolves' cousin - Canis Familiaris - the family dog.

So far there have been 18 fatal attacks by these family pets in 2014. Wait, we've gone 25 years between non-fatal wolf attacks and yet a dog kills a person here in the US every 12 days or so? And we're afraid of wolves exactly why again?

You are a billion times more likely to have Big Foot sneak into your home than you are to be attacked by one of my dogs

Your fear of the wolf is irrational. For most of us, unless you have a certain breed that seems to do most of the attacking, the fear of dogs is equally irrational. I have an eight-year-old female American Black Lab (Bella) and a seven-year-old male Brittany (Norman). In the last 25 years there have been exactly two fatal attacks by full-blooded labs and none by any sort of spaniels (much less a Brittany named Norm). The fear of dogs at my house is thus deemed irrational.

The bottom line is this: We all possess fears - rational and irrational. Just like being afraid of Norman would be irrational, so is the fear of self-publishing. I mean, come on; if I did it, anyone out there can do it. And I mean that. Just get it ready as best you can - make sure it has a great cover, has been edited, and is formatted properly - and hit the publish button. YOU CAN DO IT.


Until next week, never give up on your dreams. No matter how large or small they may be, always dream. Because a person without a dream can never have a dream come true.


lake

Organic Growth - The Best of Books

Okay, so today is Friday August 8th, 2014. As of this morning I have sold almost 3,000 copies of my debut novel, WWIV - In The Beginning. From what I'm told by others, that represents a good start to my writing career. By this time next month Book Two in the series - WWIV: Kids at War - will hit the charts and I can only hope for as good a showing as Book One.

Here's the thing, most of these sales, most of the growth in the sales of this book have been organic. That means I've spent very little on advertising in attempts to sell the novel. Most sales have come via Amazon's amazing search engine and recommendations.

Since some books sell poorly, I can't give all the credit to Amazon. Some of the credit actually goes to the book itself: The unique cover, the sales blurb, the concept, and of course the genre. Let it be known that many readers in the Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic genre are veracious readers. They devour new concepts and novels like my dogs with their food at dinnertime. For that, I am thankful!

Organic Growth Rocks

And I bet you know why, don't you?

First off, you don't have to spend a lot of money to get traction. The book (and Amazon) do the hard work. To date, I have spent $562 to promote Book One. I can't really tell you how many copies have been sold as a result of this advertising, but I figure somewhere around 200 - 300 is the actual amount. There's probably been a small residual affect as well, so let's say 400 copies have been sold thus far as a direct result of my advertising efforts.

The second benefit, and this is key, is the readership I have gained. Most people (at least 85% this far) have chosen this book by their own volition, with no outside input influencing their decision. There's good likelihood that as many as 80% of those readers will consider purchasing Book Two (and Three and Four and Five). This allows me the luxury of concentrating on my writing, instead of wasting hours consider various advertising options.

Not all marketing is created equal

This really goes without saying, but it's always worth repeating. I have tried playing with a number of advertising options. Some popular to many, others not so common. I know for a fact that when I stopped one certain method, my sales remained stable (actually, they increased slightly). Saved some money on that one.

About a month after the books release I did a small blog tour. I saw sales jump immediately and remained at a higher level for a number of weeks afterwards. That was the best $135 I think I've ever spent in my life. I am definitely using that tour again for Book Two.

So the moral is this: Use your money wisely!

Shoot for Organic Growth

And just how do you accomplish such a nebulous task? Here's five pieces of advice that you've read before, but (again) are worth repeating:

1. Write a great, and unique, story/manuscript
2. Have that manuscript professionally edited
3. Get a professionally designed cover
4. Format your manuscript into the best ebook/paperback out there (or hire it out)
5. Spend your (small) advertising budget wisely. Consider a Book Blog Tour

That's it, really. Do you best; give everything 110%. And realize that some books won't sell many copies. That's just the way it goes - sorry. But don't give up. Get writing immediately on your second book. You'll be surprised how much easy it all is the second time around. And learn from your mistakes on book one. I know I have. And I've made plenty of mistakes on this journey so far.


Next week we'll have a lively discussion about fear - rational and irrational. I promise to keep it light.


lake

Literacy - Let's get Serious

I'm always reading about alarming numbers when it comes to American literacy. Here's one I found from NPR dated December 3rd of last year:

The US ranks 20th, among developed countries, in Reading.

Whoa, wait! 20th? Really? Yep! 20th. And we do even worse when it comes to Math and Science scores. We...have a problem. Period!

While some of us may want to blame our schools, our teachers, our boards, our administration, even our President - it's much simpler than that. Just take a good look in the mirror people and you'll find one of the biggest culprits in this problem.

Studies show that 38% of our 4th Graders, read below the most basic level of comprehension

The above shocking stat is in a report from a NAE program (part of the US Department of Education). I'm stunned by that number. Really. But, I have to remember, we are a family of readers. Even the slowest reader in my immediate family can polish off 100 pages a night when they are interested. But still, what's happening to our children?

Another study/report gave me an even greater shock...Are you ready for this?

Approximately 19% of our High School Graduates are Illiterate

This same study reports that 21% of our 5th graders read below a 5th grade level. It's said there are 32 million Americans Adults who cannot read. This fact really took my breath away. Because I'm not sure I know anyone, not a single person, who can't read. Yet, if you are to believe what we're told (and I've warned you about that) 14% of adults in this country are illiterate.

So how do WE solve this Problem?

From what I've been able to glean from hours and hours of research, the solution is much simpler than it seems. The remedy begins at home; with our youngest citizens. Read to your babies, read to your preschool children, encourage reading with your grade school children.

When introduced at an early age, reading becomes something children enjoy and look forward to. My three-year-old granddaughter loves being read to. Simple books, with large words, and colorful pics. Short stories; maybe ten pages in total. Read two or three small books a night and your toddler will love literature for the rest of their lives.

When your children are infants, read to them daily. Even as little as two or three minutes a day makes a huge difference. When children are able to read on their own, encourage silent reading time of 15 or 20 minutes each night. My oldest son and his wife encourage my grandson to read every night...even during the summer.It's a great past-time and reading leads to better overall scores in other areas as well.

Read, read and read some more. I personally read an hour or two every night. Sometimes a lot longer. Makes for a tired author and worker in the morning, but you know how that goes - sometimes you just can't put a good book down.

Here's one last sobering stat before I let you go. You'll see the correlation I trust:

Among Prison Inmates - 63% are illiterate!

Read people - read!  And read to your children - tonight!


Next week we tackle bullying. Until then, all my best to every reader of this blog.


lake

Print Books vs. eBooks...Is there a Winner?

If you've read anything on the above subject, you understand how confusing the subject is. At one point, a month or so ago, I read something about ebooks outselling print books by 20%. The other day I saw an article exclaiming that in 2017 ebooks will over take the printed word. Wait, these are conflicting views. Which is right? Or are they both correct.

It turns out that both the above statements are true. There's just a qualifier or two that needs to be added to either/both. At this time in the fiction genre ebooks out sell print books 3 to 2. At least that's what I found on the web this morning. That number is subject to change depending on what source you choose to use. But, and this is the big catch, nonfiction print books far outsell ebooks – something like 2 to 1 as far as I could discern. That's substantial if you are a nonfiction author.

Since I write dystopian fiction, let's stick to that world for now.

First, ebooks

In the ebook world of fiction, Amazon has an approximate 65% market share (again, it depends on your source and I'm summarizing from two or three consistent sources I found). Barnes and Noble captures about 11% of the market followed by iBook (Apple). Apple has about 8% of the ebook share in this country. Depending on who you believe Apple has overtaken B&N slightly this past year - or - they are still fairly even - or - B&N is still ahead. All I know for sure is they are both lightyears behind Amazon. All other sources make up the remainder of the market (approximately 13%).

My summary of ebooks tells me this: you should have your fiction novel in ebook format and you should at the very least be on Amazon. This way your book will have maximum exposure.

But don't forget about B&N, iBooks, Sony Reader, and others. If you are too myopic with your sales it would seem you are leaving money on the table. If you sell 65 books this month on Amazon, applied logic from above suggests that you might expect to sell 11 on B&N and another 8 or so on iBooks. If you sell at $2.99, that's another $37 or so in commissions. Not a huge number, but money's money.

The flip side; Printed Books

If you are selling 100 ebooks a month, logic dictates you may be able to sell 66 print book to boot. Remember, digital outsells print 3 to 2, but they are not mutually exclusive. Depending on your price point and commission structure you could easily make another $130 bottom line commission from print sales. And that's nothing to sneeze at folks.

Now, if you happen to be a nonfiction author, forget everything I just said. Depending on your genre and the type of book you create (textbook vs cookbook vs historical) print sales outpace ebooks by 2 to 1. You HAVE TO have hard copies of your books available for sale. Whether on Amazon, or Barnes & Noble, or even your own website, it is crucial you have tangible books for sale.

But don't forget ebooks. The cost of converting a manuscript into eBook format is negligible nowadays and in a lot of cases you can do it yourself. The bottom line here is to keep all your options open.

Okay, have I confused you completely? Well, I hope not. Do your homework and you'll be able to figure out how much time, effort, and money to spend on the creation of either format. The info is out there...and there's lots of it. Just don't necessarily believe the first article you read. It always helps to get as many opinions as you can.

Something for my readers

Research also shows that as many as 60% of all downloaded/purchased ebooks never get read. Can that really be true? Certainly not the buyers of my fiction, right? I'm sure every last book sold has been read cover to cover by now. Perhaps two or three times in some cases. At least I hope so.


Until next time, stay cool this summer. Sit in the shade and read a great book.


lake

Preppers vs Regular Folks

My initial plan for this post was to make it something like The Hunger Games. A competition could be constructed: a difficult course for the Preppers - put on a suit and tie and make your way through rush hour traffic to a job in some major metro area...downtown of course. Oh yeah, and the tie has to be a full-windsor. None of this easy tie a half-windsor garbage.

For the regular folks - walk from their home to the nearest shooting range. Once there, allowing no time for rest or EMT support, properly load a 7.62X39 clip with ten shots and then get that clip in the gun. Shooting you say – Why make them shoot? – I respond. Have you ever tried to get the clip loaded in a Ruger Mini-30? First time they pull the action back to load a round, the clip will most likely fall out. Shooting...we'll work on that some other time.

Yeah, I suppose we could hold a competition like above. But wouldn't that just feed into the stereotypes that already exist? (And I don't just mean for Preppers...)

What does a Prepper look like?

Sadly, many non-preppers think that's what a typical prepper couple looks like. Standing around in gas masks waiting for Armageddon to suddenly appear. Inside their fortified home, they have an arsenal of weapons, ready to launch a counter-attack on the zombies when they arrive. Right? Ha!

For the most part, the average prepper looks like you and me. They have a regular family, hold down a regular job, go to regular schools, and even shop at regular stores. They don't get hundreds of deliveries every week from PrepperDotCom or DoomsdayOrUs. They like baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Mom. 

They may be in good shape or not. Some folks are more mentally and materialistically prepared than others. They have a bug-out plan. Or stockpiles of food like rice and beans. Perhaps 50 extra gallons of gas stored in their garage. Or maybe just an idea of what they plan to do, or where they plan to meet their family when the SHTF.

How do regular folks (the unprepared) look to Preppers?

Okay. perhaps. But not really. I have several distant relatives that could be called hard core preppers. The most common belief they have about the non-prepared is that they just don't understand why these people are so ignorant. Not of some impending danger that is about to happen, but just in general. There are a lot of things that can happen, a lot, and many of them are bad. 

Something as minor as an earthquake could have a substantial portion of our country (okay, California) in quite a bind in a matter of 30 seconds. Think of the aftermath; power outages, loss of food and water, medical facilities destroyed. What will you do if you don't have any sort of plan on what to do next? I'm not talking about something as all-out as a secret fortress, stockpiled with food and water for 100 days. How about where will you and your family meet up if the event finds everyone spread throughout the city when it strikes? Have you even thought about that?

I am not a Prepper!

Not per se. My wife and I, along with other family members, do have a bug-out location. We own weapons (and plenty of ammo) with which to protect ourselves. We have some (read that as a small amount) extra food at our off-site location to sustain us for a while. We'd have to pillage a bit for more supplies. Although I am sort of handy with a rifle and a bow, so we could have some sort of protein from time to time.

Preppers look at me and chuckle. Regular folks check out my weapon cache and usually say, "So, you're one of those kinds." I'm somewhere in the middle. But isn't that the point of this exercise? Aren't most people somewhere in the middle? The 80 percent? Yeah, we are. Ten percent of the folks out there are clueless; ten percent are full blown ready. Most of us have an idea of how to survive, but it's just not all that well planned out.

So when Armageddon finally does arrive, it's nice to know I'll have lots of company rummaging through food supplies by my side. For the first time in a long while, I can honestly say, I'm just average.

For the first time ever, I'm going to recommend my debut novel as a summer read for you. It portrays what happens to an average man when the SHTF. You can find it here: WWIV - In The Beginning.

Until next time, read on my friends.

lake

5 Fun Facts About Me: e a lake

I'm doing something different in today's blog. I'm giving other writers, and any readers that follow this blog, a chance to know a little bit more about me. So, here goes.

1. I came late to the writing party

What I mean by this is I was 50+ before I ever gave serious consideration to writing a novel. And then it took another three years to start. I had a great idea from a series of dreams I had seven or eight years ago. Still, I didn't know anything about the author game. I'm an accountant; be serious I thought. But after a few years of chewing on the dreams, I gave it a go. And I couldn't be any happier with my decision.

Book one of the WWIV series (In The Beginning) is doing so much better than I ever dreamt it would. For that, I am truly thankful. I'm also fortunate because people are beginning to ask when book two (Kids at War) will be ready. Some indie authors never get this far. So for all the success I have experienced, I thank my readers.

2. I hunt...A LOT

I mostly bow hunt, and mostly white-tailed deer. There's just something about a midwest fall afternoon in the woods. I wouldn't trade it for anything. My hunting mostly consists of sitting and taking in everything interesting around me. Watching squirrels play, hawks floating on thermal currents, the occasional raccoon or turkey. It's just the way I prefer to spend my falls. If I'm lucky, I even get some venison for the freezer every third year or so.

I drive my oldest son absolute bonkers because I rarely have a tale of game taken or a dramatically missed shot. Mostly, I say something like "Well, I saw a nice buck, but he wasn't in my comfort zone." Or, "I had a nice doe wander by, but I never got a clean look at her."

3. I am NOT a Prepper

This may shock some of you. One would naturally assume that a person who writes novels about the end of the world as we know it would be a prepper. But I'm not. That doesn't mean I'm ignorant to intelligent preparedness. My wife and I have a bug-out plan. We just hope what happens in the WWIV series isn't what hits this great land of ours. Sure, we could bike or walk to our preplanned destination, but we'd much prefer to take a vehicle. Remember, I'm almost 55...I'm old (not really).

Trust me, I believe some level of preparedness is necessary. Just how much? Well, I can't really say because I am not an expert. My novels in the WWIV series deal more with common people than actual real life preppers. If you at least have a plan in case something happens, that's probably better than 90% of the folks in the world right now.

4. I have a heart, I just can't write like it

Want to know who makes the most money in this biz? It's those romance novelists. That's where the big bucks are in this biz. But, and this is a big qualifier, it's a hard genre to break into and rise in. Romance is where you find a lot of authors and a lot of heady competition.

And then there's the other thing: the mush factor. I can be as romantic as the next guy...sometimes. I'm just not overly romantic. As such, I'd have a hard time writing about people's feelings of love (and lust) and all that kissing and hugging that goes along with such romance. Somewhere buried in my first Smith book, one person expresses their love to another. You want romance? From me? That's all you're going to get; that's all I'm capable of.


5. I plan on writing a large number of books

I am not a one and done author. I have plans; big plans. I have one published novel and four completed manuscripts in various stages of editing and rewrites. There are eight titles planned for my WWIV series and six for the Smith Chronicles. I also have plans for two or three stand alone titles at the point in my new journey. That makes at least sixteen or seventeen novel I plan to produce over the next three of four years. And that's just to start. Who really knows where this will all lead.


Okay, I know I probably didn't disclose anything too shocking here, but it's a start. Now, you know a little more about me. The writer me and the real person me. I hope you enjoy these five fun facts; it took me a long time to come up with five things I thought were worth sharing.


I'll have another post for you this coming Friday morning. The long Memorial Day weekend threw me for a loop this shortened work week. Starting this June, I will be posting in this blog once a week – every Tuesday. In July i will post weekly as well, but I'll be covering something a little different. I will be introducing you to three issues that I feel strongly about. Each week I will cover each issue in depth and let you know why it's special to me and how I plan to help out in each area.


Until next time...keep reading.


lake

Dystopian Trends

I started reading Divergent last week. You know the book, right? A new dystopian tale brought to us by the talented Veronica Roth. At 487 printed pages, it is quite the tome of reading joy. Especially if you love dark dystopian tales (and we know I do).

Currently, several Young Adult (YA) Dystopian novels have made huge inroads in the book and movie world. They are of course The Hunger Games trilogy and Divergent, which is also a trilogy with its companion novels Insurgent and Allegiant.  I have read all three of the first set, and am just about done with the first book in the second trilogy.

The popular trends seem to be YA oriented. I guess this gives a greater, mass appeal for selling books and movie tickets. But here's the slight rub – it's Young Adult. Better stated, it's about teenagers. With lots of teen issues and teen angst. As a 50+ reader (and movie goer) I sometimes get a little tired of teen angst, teen love triangles, teens in general. I raised three children of my own. Trust me when I say their teen years, though well over now, are still etched permanently in my mind.

I bring this up because I read an interesting article the other day about the apparent decline of this particular genre; the Dystopian genre - my genre.

I'm new to the game, just got in. I published my first novel (WWIV - In The Beginning) on March 28th of this year. It has sold well in its first six weeks. Far beyond any of my estimates and expectations. But then I read that the Dystopian genre is on the decline? That is troubling news for me. I just put my uniform on coach; I'm not even sweaty yet.

A little further research was necessary on my part. I couldn't walk away from the genre I love that easily. I can't (repeat in bold letters – CAN'T) write in many other genres. Romance is the number one slot out there. And my writing is far from romantic. Like Earth to the Moon far. Maybe even Earth to the Sun.

Alas, I found what I needed in several other articles. Good News! Very good news. When others speak about the Dystopian genre beginning a slow descent, they are speaking specifically of the YA portion of the genre. Not the 1984, Brave New World, Cormac McCarthy portion. There's always room for classic lit within each and every genre. It seems, there's just only so many sub, sub, sub plots the any genre can hold. After too long, the story becomes old, cliche. Whew, saved me there.

I have one novel and four manuscripts written thus far in the Dystopian world. Book two of the WWIV series will be ready for publishing by mid-summer. I want it to be as well received as book one has been. There is room for all authors I have learned. I read a lot of new, self-published Dystopian novels. Too many have teens are their main characters. I suppose, if you believe what I read earlier, they may not find the success they are searching for. Or maybe they will.

Remember Mark Twain's definition of an expert – "An expert is anyone more than 20 miles from their own hometown, carrying a briefcase." Some people say every creative thought has already been written in one form or another. It's my goal, now, to prove those people wrong. Chins up fellow Indie Authors. Keep writing and never, ever give up!


Until Thursday, read a dystopian novel. It might be more entertaining than you ever though.


lake

The Great Time Void

***** Quick Note before beginning today: My debut novel WWIV - In The Beginning is now available for free at the review site of Story Cartel. If interested, please download a free copy and leave an honest review in exchange. Free is a hard price to beat.  Thanks! *****


I've read a lot of posts in many blogs about social media. Most, if not all, warn about one thing in common – be careful, social media is a huge time suck. I have a solution for all budding authors, editors and mere mortals for this problem.

Like anyone else, I spend a great deal of time on social media. While I try to avoid the infamous "Buy My Book" posts, I still come up with many other ideas to post hoping to entertain and enlighten my followers. However, posting isn't the problem, is it? No, you lose track of time while reading others' posts (the good, the bad, and the ugly).

Twitter is a great way to reach millions of folks with a mere 140 character entry. Well, maybe a couple thousand. But if you're lucky enough to have generous people repost (re-tweet #RT) some of your posts, your reach increases. But then you start reading other people's posts. Good posts, in my case, from fellow authors offering great advice; bad posts that promise to increase your followers by eight-billion people in mere days; and sometimes the ugly posts. You know what I'm speaking of. Either the angry person who seems to be able to use profanity as an adjective and an adverb (usually in the same sentence), or someone promoting something that will surely "change the world", or even something as simple as a cute and clever video that eats up three minutes of your valuable time.

Now Twitter is not the only place this can happen. G+ is one of my favorites and I can easily use up ten or fifteen minutes cruising through checking up on my various "friends". Or Facebook, where you typically have a personal and an author account. Or Instagram or Pinterest or any of the other dozens of social media sites that may be your favorite.

And before you know it, the hours disappear. You start with a simple post to one of the sites at lunch, and wah lah, all of a sudden it's 3:30 and the kids will be home soon. Or you sneak a quick peek at work before a meeting, and suddenly a co-worker knocks feverishly at your door telling you the group is "waiting on you." Well, the group and the boss (angry boss that is).

Here's what I do. It's not rocket science or astounding or even life changing. It's just how I handle the possible loss of valuable hours from my day.

I get up early and plan my entries for the day. No, I don't arise at 4 o'clock or anything crazy like that. Most morning's it's 6:15 or 6:30. I spend a half hour figuring out what clever thoughts I can spread throughout the day. And then I post on several outlets. (Note – not the same drivel on every outlet; that doesn't help your Google ranking one bit). Then around 11:00 I post a little more, same about 3:00 in the afternoon, and one last time when I get home after 6 o'clock.

How does that work for me? Well, time wise, pretty good. I usually only lose a few minutes roaming aimlessly through the sites (each time I log in of course). Book wise? I have no idea. I know it doesn't hurt, but it's hard to accurately measure the results. But, according to thousands (if not millions) of "experts", you have to have an online presence. Okay, I can check that off my list.

Now I know many of you will tell me all about the various sites I can use to schedule my Tweets, G+ posts, and Facebook updates. Please, save your breath. The fact that I've been able to maintain a somewhat constant presence on these sights is amazing all in itself. Trying to get me to schedule my activities will go as well as trying to get your mother to stop posting cat videos.

Remember, you really can teach an old dog new tricks ... just be sure they are easy tricks.


Have a great Easter break and find a good book to read over the weekend.


lake