It's been a while since my last post because I've been busy. During the previous week, my family took a college touring trip up the east coast to Maine. There was a lot of driving involved--3,300 miles worth--but, it was worth it. That might sound like a huge drag, but since I'd never visited any states north of Virginia, it was rather fun. Even driving in Manhattan during lunch time was an exciting experience. Let me just say that driving on the roads with NY cab drivers was like the wild, wild west! We saw several ivy-league colleges, ate in some fine restaurants, and saw some beautiful parts of the country.
Now that I've returned, I worked on a novel that I had put aside while driving up the east coast. All was going well for a while and then I hit a brick wall. I didn't necessarily get writer's block because I can still write. I just ran out of logical ideas for the point I reached in the story line. I have the majority of the story outlined, but there is one part in the middle where the details are fuzzy. Well, that just so happens to be where everything petered out. I've put the story aside for now while I brainstorm to come up with more ideas to drag the story out of the mud it seems to be caught in.
I had a novel idea during the trip that I had to get out of bed to write down. I think it will make a great book and can't wait to get around to outlining the plot. Another cool aspect of this story is that I had the idea while I was in Maine. We were listening to The Green Mile in the car, too. My idea is a similar style to how Stephen King tells his story. Anyway, time will tell if I can pull off execution of that story.
My wife recently finished reading my hit man novel. She's the second beta reader to have finished it and now I'm excited to finally get back to revising any mistakes and plot holes. It's also a daunting task. Printed, the book is nearly 300 pages. Today, I managed to revise almost 50 pages. At this rate, it'll be a while before I'm ready to hand it to the next group of beta readers to get their input.
In other, non-writing, news, I'm on the Atkins diet. I started a week before our trip and lost nearly 11 pounds. During the trip, I cheated when we reached Newark, DE and ate at Catherine Rooney's, which is an Irish pub. I couldn't resist not having a Guinness there. Also, I wanted to have some delicious seafood in Maine. In all, I gained 2 pounds during the trip, so that's not too bad. Since returning home and resuming my diet, I've lost an additional 6 pounds. So far, so good.
That's all I've got to report for now. Hopefully, some idea will come to me for the current novel I'm writing. Until next time, I'll continue being good on my diet and editing the hit man novel.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
A motivational moment
I've recently gone back and perused J.A. Konrath's older blog posts on his Newbie's Guide to Publishing. If you're an indie author and haven't read Konrath's blog, I highly recommend doing so, otherwise, you're missing out on some great information.
During my reading, I've come across several posts where he talks candidly about the emotions new authors experience when they first start out in this business. It's refreshing to know that I'm not alone in my self-doubt and frustration. Nor am I alone in my obsessive tendencies to Google my name and check my sales stats on my various distributors' websites repeatedly throughout the day. While these affirmations are nice, the most valuable insights are learning from his experiences with self-promotion.
While I'm ignorant about advertising and marketing, it's nice to know I can go somewhere to learn from someone else's mistakes and successes. Especially, someone who is succeeding in the field of writing. More often that not, when I feel depressed about my low sales, feel like I'm a voice quacking in the void, or that I'm just another face in crowd, I can read Joe's posts and begin to feel better about the things I am doing, gain a sense of motivation, and know I need to stay the course.
During my reading, I've come across several posts where he talks candidly about the emotions new authors experience when they first start out in this business. It's refreshing to know that I'm not alone in my self-doubt and frustration. Nor am I alone in my obsessive tendencies to Google my name and check my sales stats on my various distributors' websites repeatedly throughout the day. While these affirmations are nice, the most valuable insights are learning from his experiences with self-promotion.
While I'm ignorant about advertising and marketing, it's nice to know I can go somewhere to learn from someone else's mistakes and successes. Especially, someone who is succeeding in the field of writing. More often that not, when I feel depressed about my low sales, feel like I'm a voice quacking in the void, or that I'm just another face in crowd, I can read Joe's posts and begin to feel better about the things I am doing, gain a sense of motivation, and know I need to stay the course.
An update on what I've been doing
Forgive me. It's been a while since my last blog post. Why does this sound like a Catholic confession? Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been *insert time here* since my last confession. Maybe I feel guilty for not blogging more frequently.
Lately, I've been working on a new novel. The working title is called Pass the Buck and, of course, it takes place in Atlanta. I'm not delving into details at this point as the story is still in its infancy, but from the feedback I received when I pitched the idea to friends, I'm very excited about it. I hope I can do it justice and deliver a highly entertaining story my readers. Time will tell.
My college hit man novel, Majoring in Murder, is still in the editorial phase. I've gone through it several time and felt comfortable enough to give it to two of my beta readers (one of those being my wife, who is marking it up as if I was one of her students). Hopefully, she'll be finished with it soon so that I can make my revisions and give it to some different beta readers. This is always such a daunting process for me. I hate editing, as do most writers I know. Also, the honest feedback can sting sometimes and make any writer doubt themselves. But, it shouldn't be too long until I can offer up the book to the readers.
I pitched the idea to a fellow writer friend to co-author a book together. Since he writes science fiction and I enjoy writing crime fiction, we have to come up with an idea that will appeal to both of us. I've got one fairly solid idea and the seeds for another. He's supposed to be brainstorming about some ideas too, so we'll see where we are after July 4th when we reconvene to discuss whether we really want to go through with writing a book together. So, stay tuned for that.
As you may know, and in case you don't, I released my anthology, An Adverse Anthology: Strange & Disturbing Short Stories ,earlier this month on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. If you haven't yet purchased a copy, you're missing out on some really entertaining stories. Also, I've lowered the price from $2.99 to $2.25, which is quite a bargain for 8 stories. Did I mention they were very entertaining? In addition, I've uploaded a more professionally formatted version for both Kindle and Nook on Amazon and B&N. Unfortunately, I have yet to try this Smashwords. This brings me to another point...
I recently came across a series of posts by another indie publisher, Guido Henkel, who gave quite a lot of insight into professionally formatting one's eBooks. His series is definitely worth a read if you want to make your eBooks look their best. The information he presents is priceless, in my opinion. I will warn you ahead of time that it gets fairly technical if you're not familiar with HTML.
In the past, when I uploaded my manuscript, I would simply submit a Word document that was complete and polished. The frustration came when I would upload it to Amazon, view it in the Kindle emulator, tweak it to make it look as I wanted, and then do the same at Barnes & Noble, only to discover that it needed more tweaking to look right for the Nook Color. Once it looked nice in the Nook Color, I would view it in the older Nook emulator and see that it looked hideous. Talk about wanting to pull my hair out! And then there's Smashwords "meatgrinder" where they highly advise you to upload a Word document and adhere to their style guide specifications. Guido's series will eliminate that frustration (at least for Amazon and B&N) and make your manuscript look like you want it to on any eReader device.
I've reformatted my anthology using his steps and tested it on my Nook for PC app, the Kindle app on my smart phone, and the Nook Color I own, and I must say, it looks stellar! I still need to test uploading an ePub version to Smashwords to learn how well their meatgrinder handles the format and I'll do a post to tell you what I learn. I plan to incorporate these techniques into every eBook I publish from this point forward.
Now that I've added another, professionally formatted, title to my repertoire and I'm struggling with self-promotion and experimenting with price points. I've sold several copies of my latest short story collection, but nothing like I was expecting. Of course, I don't have an extensive back list or anything, so I imagine what I'm experiencing is just par for the course. Hopefully, things will pick up as I build my oeuvre. Again, time will tell.
Lately, I've been working on a new novel. The working title is called Pass the Buck and, of course, it takes place in Atlanta. I'm not delving into details at this point as the story is still in its infancy, but from the feedback I received when I pitched the idea to friends, I'm very excited about it. I hope I can do it justice and deliver a highly entertaining story my readers. Time will tell.
My college hit man novel, Majoring in Murder, is still in the editorial phase. I've gone through it several time and felt comfortable enough to give it to two of my beta readers (one of those being my wife, who is marking it up as if I was one of her students). Hopefully, she'll be finished with it soon so that I can make my revisions and give it to some different beta readers. This is always such a daunting process for me. I hate editing, as do most writers I know. Also, the honest feedback can sting sometimes and make any writer doubt themselves. But, it shouldn't be too long until I can offer up the book to the readers.
I pitched the idea to a fellow writer friend to co-author a book together. Since he writes science fiction and I enjoy writing crime fiction, we have to come up with an idea that will appeal to both of us. I've got one fairly solid idea and the seeds for another. He's supposed to be brainstorming about some ideas too, so we'll see where we are after July 4th when we reconvene to discuss whether we really want to go through with writing a book together. So, stay tuned for that.
As you may know, and in case you don't, I released my anthology, An Adverse Anthology: Strange & Disturbing Short Stories ,earlier this month on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. If you haven't yet purchased a copy, you're missing out on some really entertaining stories. Also, I've lowered the price from $2.99 to $2.25, which is quite a bargain for 8 stories. Did I mention they were very entertaining? In addition, I've uploaded a more professionally formatted version for both Kindle and Nook on Amazon and B&N. Unfortunately, I have yet to try this Smashwords. This brings me to another point...
I recently came across a series of posts by another indie publisher, Guido Henkel, who gave quite a lot of insight into professionally formatting one's eBooks. His series is definitely worth a read if you want to make your eBooks look their best. The information he presents is priceless, in my opinion. I will warn you ahead of time that it gets fairly technical if you're not familiar with HTML.
In the past, when I uploaded my manuscript, I would simply submit a Word document that was complete and polished. The frustration came when I would upload it to Amazon, view it in the Kindle emulator, tweak it to make it look as I wanted, and then do the same at Barnes & Noble, only to discover that it needed more tweaking to look right for the Nook Color. Once it looked nice in the Nook Color, I would view it in the older Nook emulator and see that it looked hideous. Talk about wanting to pull my hair out! And then there's Smashwords "meatgrinder" where they highly advise you to upload a Word document and adhere to their style guide specifications. Guido's series will eliminate that frustration (at least for Amazon and B&N) and make your manuscript look like you want it to on any eReader device.
I've reformatted my anthology using his steps and tested it on my Nook for PC app, the Kindle app on my smart phone, and the Nook Color I own, and I must say, it looks stellar! I still need to test uploading an ePub version to Smashwords to learn how well their meatgrinder handles the format and I'll do a post to tell you what I learn. I plan to incorporate these techniques into every eBook I publish from this point forward.
Now that I've added another, professionally formatted, title to my repertoire and I'm struggling with self-promotion and experimenting with price points. I've sold several copies of my latest short story collection, but nothing like I was expecting. Of course, I don't have an extensive back list or anything, so I imagine what I'm experiencing is just par for the course. Hopefully, things will pick up as I build my oeuvre. Again, time will tell.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Another title released!
I released a collection of short stories today that I've been working on polishing for quite some time. Well, I finally finished. This new book is called An Adverse Anthology: Strange & Disturbing Short Stories, which you can see in the sidebar to the right. It contains 8 short stories that I hope will stir your imagination and emotions. Here is the jacket description:
At the time of this blog post, it is available on Smashwords here. I've uploaded it to Amazon and B&N, but it is still in the approval process by those distributors. When it is available there, I will update the links in the sidebar, on my website, and everywhere else I can think of.
So, if you've come by, stopped and read this blog, I do hope you'll get a copy of my book. I doubt you'll be sorry you did. Also, for $2.99, it's less than a single copy of most popular magazines.
Oh, one more thing, if you do happen to get a copy, please rate and/or write a review for it. It doesn't matter if you hate it, leaving a review makes my day. Thanks for stopping by.
"From the mind of J.R. McLemore come eight strange and disturbing short stories:
When the Dead Whisper - If the dead had a secret, would you want to hear it?
Jason's Last Wish - Can a cancer-stricken boy get a second chance at life?
Western Justice - Do the sins of our fathers come back to haunt us?
Hush, Hush, My Love - When a relationship sours, is it wise to look for love elsewhere?
Paranoia - Is a retired cop suffering from severe paranoia, or something else?
Sweet Charlotte - Can someone save Charlotte from her abductor before it's too late?
The Show Must Go On - Can a death-row inmate's nightmares give us a glimpse into the hereafter?
Footprints in the Snow - Can a young man learn a life-altering lesson on a rural stretch of road?"
At the time of this blog post, it is available on Smashwords here. I've uploaded it to Amazon and B&N, but it is still in the approval process by those distributors. When it is available there, I will update the links in the sidebar, on my website, and everywhere else I can think of.
So, if you've come by, stopped and read this blog, I do hope you'll get a copy of my book. I doubt you'll be sorry you did. Also, for $2.99, it's less than a single copy of most popular magazines.
Oh, one more thing, if you do happen to get a copy, please rate and/or write a review for it. It doesn't matter if you hate it, leaving a review makes my day. Thanks for stopping by.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Coming soon!
I've been busy assembling an anthology of my best short stories which I will self-publish very soon. I handed the stories over to my wife last week to proof for me (did I mention she's an English professor? No? Well, she is and the best editor and all-around-everything I know of). Well, she handed them back to me yesterday and I sat down to have a look at what she found. Wow! There was quite a bit of editorial marks on most of the pages. Keep in mind, many of these stories had already been through a rigorous editorial process (some of them went through nine iterations of extensive editing with feedback from several beta readers), yet she still made corrections.
This proves a couple of points:
1. You can't please all of the people all of the time. No matter how awesome you think your work is, there will always be someone who thinks it stinks or could be a little better. In addition to this, just know that reading/writing is very subjective. What appeals to one person isn't necessarily going to appeal to another.
2. If you want, you can practically edit a story forever in hopes that one day it will be perfect. While editing is extremely important, falling into the never-ending cycle of editing to perfection is something every writer should avoid like the plague. Falling into this trap will stop your productivity and most likely drive you mad. Besides, even the famous writers can read one of their own books after publication and find areas that they feel could be improved.
So, with that said, I am in the process of going through the story lineup and addressing the editorial remarks my wife made. It shouldn't take me long and I will, of course, post another blog when I am ready to release the book on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. By the way, in case I haven't told you what the name of the book is (my memory is getting worse in my later years), this is it: An Adverse Anthology: Strange & Disturbing Short Stories.
I hope you'll buy a copy, but more importantly, I hope you'll enjoy it!
This proves a couple of points:
1. You can't please all of the people all of the time. No matter how awesome you think your work is, there will always be someone who thinks it stinks or could be a little better. In addition to this, just know that reading/writing is very subjective. What appeals to one person isn't necessarily going to appeal to another.
2. If you want, you can practically edit a story forever in hopes that one day it will be perfect. While editing is extremely important, falling into the never-ending cycle of editing to perfection is something every writer should avoid like the plague. Falling into this trap will stop your productivity and most likely drive you mad. Besides, even the famous writers can read one of their own books after publication and find areas that they feel could be improved.
So, with that said, I am in the process of going through the story lineup and addressing the editorial remarks my wife made. It shouldn't take me long and I will, of course, post another blog when I am ready to release the book on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords. By the way, in case I haven't told you what the name of the book is (my memory is getting worse in my later years), this is it: An Adverse Anthology: Strange & Disturbing Short Stories.
I hope you'll buy a copy, but more importantly, I hope you'll enjoy it!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Self-publishing: status report. Part II
Happy Easter, everyone.
So, I have some good news to report in this status update. I was reviewed over at Red Adept Reviews. You can read the review here.
If I haven't already pointed this out, I will now just so there is no confusion. HUSH, HUSH, MY LOVE was an experiment in self-publishing. Sure, I wrote it and had it published in a professional magazine, but I also used it to venture into the world of self-publishing, familiarize myself with the process to put it up on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.
Well, one thing I learned was that you can give away stories (and books) on Smashwords. On B&N and Amazon, you can't. This is unfortunate because my short story is very short. I wouldn't charge anything for it if I was able to get away with that. Mainly, my intention was to put the story out there for free just so I could increase my audience, get my name out there to people who have never heard of me. Hopefully, my strategy has worked despite me having to charge for the damn story on Amazon and B&N. To any readers who purchased the story from either of those markets, I want to thank you and to apologize. I appreciate you parting with a buck to read my story. I apologize that is was so short. However, I hope you enjoyed it very much despite its brevity. I will be releasing an anthology soon with more short stories (all longer than HUSH, I promise). I hope you'll read it and enjoy some of my other work.
My downloads at Smashwords has slowed, but I think this is to be expected. The last time I looked (this afternoon), I had 169 downloads. I have no idea what other self-pubbed authors would expect, but for me, that is awesome! That's just in a month and the month isn't over yet. It surprises me because I am virtually unheard of, and like I said, this was an experiment, so I am very excited about that number. Also, I've sold two units on B&N and five on Amazon when I looked today.
I'm still researching marketing strategies, reading posts on the Kindle Board, as well as blog posts by Joe Konrath, Amanda Hocking, and other self-pubbed authors in addition to formatting and proofing my anthology. I'm eager to release the anthology because there's no feeling like seeing that people have taken an interest in something you've created.
I've traditionally published short stories in the past. As a matter of fact, I'm waiting for word on two short stories now. The thing I love most about self-publishing is the quick turnaround we writers have with our work. When I'm ready to give readers another story, I don't have to sit on my hands for months waiting for them to get it. All I have to do is design the cover and format it (all of which is under my control) and then upload it. It's as simple as that. There's none of this waiting and waiting and...
Lastly, I'd like to give a personal thank you to everyone who has downloaded a copy of HUSH. You guys rock! I appreciate it more than you know.
So, I have some good news to report in this status update. I was reviewed over at Red Adept Reviews. You can read the review here.
If I haven't already pointed this out, I will now just so there is no confusion. HUSH, HUSH, MY LOVE was an experiment in self-publishing. Sure, I wrote it and had it published in a professional magazine, but I also used it to venture into the world of self-publishing, familiarize myself with the process to put it up on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.
Well, one thing I learned was that you can give away stories (and books) on Smashwords. On B&N and Amazon, you can't. This is unfortunate because my short story is very short. I wouldn't charge anything for it if I was able to get away with that. Mainly, my intention was to put the story out there for free just so I could increase my audience, get my name out there to people who have never heard of me. Hopefully, my strategy has worked despite me having to charge for the damn story on Amazon and B&N. To any readers who purchased the story from either of those markets, I want to thank you and to apologize. I appreciate you parting with a buck to read my story. I apologize that is was so short. However, I hope you enjoyed it very much despite its brevity. I will be releasing an anthology soon with more short stories (all longer than HUSH, I promise). I hope you'll read it and enjoy some of my other work.
My downloads at Smashwords has slowed, but I think this is to be expected. The last time I looked (this afternoon), I had 169 downloads. I have no idea what other self-pubbed authors would expect, but for me, that is awesome! That's just in a month and the month isn't over yet. It surprises me because I am virtually unheard of, and like I said, this was an experiment, so I am very excited about that number. Also, I've sold two units on B&N and five on Amazon when I looked today.
I'm still researching marketing strategies, reading posts on the Kindle Board, as well as blog posts by Joe Konrath, Amanda Hocking, and other self-pubbed authors in addition to formatting and proofing my anthology. I'm eager to release the anthology because there's no feeling like seeing that people have taken an interest in something you've created.
I've traditionally published short stories in the past. As a matter of fact, I'm waiting for word on two short stories now. The thing I love most about self-publishing is the quick turnaround we writers have with our work. When I'm ready to give readers another story, I don't have to sit on my hands for months waiting for them to get it. All I have to do is design the cover and format it (all of which is under my control) and then upload it. It's as simple as that. There's none of this waiting and waiting and...
Lastly, I'd like to give a personal thank you to everyone who has downloaded a copy of HUSH. You guys rock! I appreciate it more than you know.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Self-publishing: status report. Part I
Okay, so my short story, Hush, Hush, My Love, has been available on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords now for nearly two weeks. Here's the lowdown on what's happened during that time.
B&N was the last one to make the story available. Despite the note on their site that says it takes anywhere from 24 to 48 hours, it took considerably longer. Almost a week! That's crazy slow, so just be forewarned.
Smashwords is my favorite of all the platforms so far. Why, you ask? Well, for starters, they are quick about making the work available to readers. As per my previous post, I had a lot of downloads quickly. Of course, that could be due to the story being free. To date, I've received four 4-star reviews. That really made my day to get those. The majority of the downloads came during the first two days and have since tapered off, but I am still seeing downloads each day.
On Amazon, I've only sold two copies. :( Not impressive, I know. I managed to sell one on B&N so far. If truth be told, I'm actually happy that I sold anything on Amazon or B&N. I mean, I haven't gone all out and tried to do any heavy marketing. Also, Hush is a short story. A very short story, at that, so asking someone to pay to read it is a long shot. (Although, I must admit, it's a damn good story and I think anyone who parts with a buck to read it won't be disappointed.)
So, there you have it. I've probably made $1.50 total from the story. But, that's not why I self-published the short story to begin with. The reason Hush is out there is two-fold. First, I wanted to make it available as a promotional tactic, in order to put my work out there and let readers see what I create. The other reason was for me to test the waters with self-publishing and experience the steps necessary to make my work available on the various platforms. So far, the experience has been very easy and pleasant.
For those who do not know, I am working on putting together a collection of my best short stories. The tentative title is An Adverse Anthology: strange & disturbing short stories. I'm nearly finished composing it and I hope you'll check it out when I publish it. Of course, you can bet I will make it known when it hits the various distribution channels. Also, I hope you'll come back to see what I have in the pipeline for future releases.
Thanks for reading.
B&N was the last one to make the story available. Despite the note on their site that says it takes anywhere from 24 to 48 hours, it took considerably longer. Almost a week! That's crazy slow, so just be forewarned.
Smashwords is my favorite of all the platforms so far. Why, you ask? Well, for starters, they are quick about making the work available to readers. As per my previous post, I had a lot of downloads quickly. Of course, that could be due to the story being free. To date, I've received four 4-star reviews. That really made my day to get those. The majority of the downloads came during the first two days and have since tapered off, but I am still seeing downloads each day.
On Amazon, I've only sold two copies. :( Not impressive, I know. I managed to sell one on B&N so far. If truth be told, I'm actually happy that I sold anything on Amazon or B&N. I mean, I haven't gone all out and tried to do any heavy marketing. Also, Hush is a short story. A very short story, at that, so asking someone to pay to read it is a long shot. (Although, I must admit, it's a damn good story and I think anyone who parts with a buck to read it won't be disappointed.)
So, there you have it. I've probably made $1.50 total from the story. But, that's not why I self-published the short story to begin with. The reason Hush is out there is two-fold. First, I wanted to make it available as a promotional tactic, in order to put my work out there and let readers see what I create. The other reason was for me to test the waters with self-publishing and experience the steps necessary to make my work available on the various platforms. So far, the experience has been very easy and pleasant.
For those who do not know, I am working on putting together a collection of my best short stories. The tentative title is An Adverse Anthology: strange & disturbing short stories. I'm nearly finished composing it and I hope you'll check it out when I publish it. Of course, you can bet I will make it known when it hits the various distribution channels. Also, I hope you'll come back to see what I have in the pipeline for future releases.
Thanks for reading.
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