Confessions of a Writer

The Work In Progess...

I have not been blogging all that much of late.

In fact, I've pulled back on Twitter, KDP, Facebook groups and anything that smacks of the treadmill of marketing.

I confess: I sort of lost heart. For months and months, I pushed and prodded and presented my most upbeat positive self... and barely budged my sales. It was depressing. The fact that my 'day job' of descriptive video script writing has gone from slow to nil lately didn't help my mood. I figured people didn't want to hear about it if all I felt like doing was whining about crappy sales and pounding my head against the wall about the vagaries of self-promotion.

That much is true: no one wants to hear me bitch!

Things will look up. My day job work will resume this month, so at least I won't be without income for too much longer. That's a scary place to be. I don't wish it on anyone.

I'm still not in a totally fantastic mood, frankly. But I also can't ignore my blog. That doesn't accomplish much of anything! I promise to post more often moving forward into happier, more optimistic times. I have some special guests coming up soon, and I'll try to be inspiring or at least entertaining.

The other big reason I've not been spending so much time on social networking and platform building is because I've been WRITING. Remember writing? You know, that thing authors do so that we have books to market in the first place? Yep. I'm waist-deep in Book One of The Dead Drunk mystery series In The Bag.

If you are excited to get your hands on my new book, I'm grateful. But? Please don't hold your breath. I don't rush when I write. I'm not about crankin' 'em out and slappin' 'em up on Kindle. I want to work until I have the best possible version of In The Bag before I foist it upon the world of paying readers. That will mean at least a few weeks more hard work before I show this draft to my editor, and start that whole fun process of rewriting and polishing. Once that's done, there are at least three other titles in the series that have already been planned out or started.

And then will I self-publish The Dead Drunks?

Frankly, I'm not so sure. This has been liberating in a lot of ways. It's great to have total creative control and reach readers world-wide. I've loved getting to know some of the truly amazing, talented and supportive folks on the Indie scene. Overall, reviews for Base Spirits and my Kindle short story 'Family Secrets' have been outstanding. And sure: the theory of earning a whopping 70% in royalties is wonderful... but the harsh reality has been a mere trickle of money. In my case. So far.

I won't turn my back on the Indie route. There are plans to contribute to an Indie ghost story anthology later in the year with a handful of other quality authors. It's an interesting project, and I like the idea of collaboration. I still have a bunch of previously published short stories that I intend to polish and publish individually on Kindle-- with an eye to eventually bundling them into a collection.

Traditional vs. Indie. Does it have to be either/or? I don't think so. I think what authors have now more than ever is the freedom to choose. I believe in getting help in the more traditional sense with a commercial mystery series if I want things like translations and film or TV rights (and I bloody well do want those things!) I know there are some rabid/stubborn/successful Indie authors out there who will scream at me not to bother with the 'old ways', but to them I'd like to say with respect that I'd like to give it a shot. I DO know what I'm up against, believe me. Been there, done that. But I've learned a lot of lessons over the past year, and I'd just like to see what happens this time around. Maybe that's foolish or masochistic, but please humour me. I may end up Indie publishing after all. No shame in either method. Let's see what happens.

So for now, I promise I will pay more attention to my blog. I'd like to spend my energy primarily on writing, but I also know that I need to keep my platform current and active. Mea culpa. I'd also like to see what the effect of getting more good reviews has on sales and word of mouth rather than engaging in endless rounds of Tweeting and hopping and waving my virtual arms in the air. I just need a break from the marketing madness. I believe in my work. Its time will come. 

If you'd like to read and review my writing, here are my links:

For a spooky full-length chill ride, try Base Spirits: http://www.amazon.com/Base-Spirits-ebook/dp/B005L38G8E

For an unsettling short read about a family's dark side, here's 'Family Secrets': http://www.amazon.com/Family-Secrets-ebook/dp/B007D8TLP2

See? I'm done sulking. I'm back. I'll see you soon.