Beyond Writing

As Schism draws nearer to publication, I thought I’d draw the curtain back a bit and give some insight on what goes into the book beyond just the story you read.  After all, for most of us, our journey with a novel begins when we pick it up to start reading, but for the novelist, it begins long before that.

The writing part is fun and easy.  To an extent, even the outlining/brainstorming is fun.  However, in order to bring a work to market, there are many more steps involved, starting with creating a business.  Even if you don’t want to go as far as I have in setting up an LLC, if you ever intend to be paid for your work, then the government is going to want to be involved.  It’s boring and tedious, but it’s also necessary.

Then there’s the cover.  It has to be designed, proofed, redesigned, and properly formatted.  Since I write in Microsoft Word, I need to go to a formatter so it can be put into “book form.”  And given that most of us publish ebooks too, there’s a special format for that, which the work must be converted into.

Even when that’s all done, it’s not like you hit a button and *POOF* - your book is on shelves.  You’ve got to have a way to print or get your work electronically to folks.  For me, that’s CreateSpace and IngramSpark.  You have to upload so they can check for formatting errors, you have to price it, and you have to designate the outlets.  You should also – not required, but HIGHLY recommended – get a proof copy so you can look over what it’ll be in print.  If there are mistakes, then you have to get those corrected and resubmit.

But even when your book is ready to go, how will anyone know it’s out there?  That requires at least some marketing, even if it means only telling your friends and family.  They should know the release date so they can breathlessly await your work.  Then, after all of that…

…you can finally publish.

Writing Fonts

I’ve recently been wondering which fonts people read best(I know, I know…nerd-writer stuff).  I prefer to write in Arial for some reason, even thought Times New Roman or Calibri seems to be a better default font.  Someone I once admired took most of his internet stories and published them in Verdana in order to give his book a more “websitey” feel, although he later regretted doing that.  As I’m in the middle of getting Schism ready to go to market, it got me thinking about my own choices in fonts.

I rarely change up fonts, although I do change up font sizes.  I write in 10, but I publish in 12, mostly because I realize people don’t like to squint when they read.  But, again, I tend to stick with Arial.  I’m not real sure why other than the fact that it’s a pretty smooth flowing font that allows the reader to take his or her time, and it’s not overly gaudy.  But is it a distraction?  I don’t know.

I’m going to stick with Arial for two reasons – 1) I’m used to it, and 2) I can’t please everyone.  So why try?  I may reconsider if enough people tell me they have challenges reading what I’ve written, but I have yet to hear a peep, so am I just overthinking the impact?

Topical Inspiration

I have a notepad by my desk where I write down ideas for this blog.  As I’ve mentioned previously, I have to plan in advance to blog, so sitting there waiting for brilliance to just show up isn’t practical.  As an idea appears, I write it down.  But where do those ideas come from?

Basically, they come from anywhere.  An offhanded remark can become a topic.  I’ve had ideas about what to blog about while blogging(one thought becomes another and spins off from there).  I read other blogs, look at books, see what animals run through my yard, etc.  Sometimes they’re deep, like when Sarah Hoyt and JA Konrath were talking about their forays into indie publishing.  That spawned a lot of research and posts that took days to craft.  Sometimes they just come to me, like when I was writing Schism and thought about the level of research versus the amount of that research that was included in the book.

Bottom line is that writers have to be open to ideas from anywhere, whether that’s for a blog or a book.  Inspiration is rarely something you can order and expect to just show up.  When it strikes, be ready.

Muddled Morals

Most of us seem to like stories with defined morals.  Daily life is all too riddled with muddled morality, so we tend to be drawn to stories that make clear distinctions.  Unfortunately, sometimes good stories require muddled morals.

I noticed this while writing Schism.  While there are clearly some folks who have an inverted sense of morality in the book, there are more than a few who are a mix of both good and bad(like most people are in real life).  During the restructuring of America in a way most of us would gag at, there are still instances many of us would cheer.  For example, there’s an element in all of us that wants criminals to pay and not be pampered, even while recognizing that due process is a good thing.  Most of us hate the divisions within our country and would like to see less divisive speech out there, even while we revere the free speech that sometimes leads us to that.  These instances where we want to simultaneously cheer and boo lend themselves towards a book that is more a cautionary tale than one we might be drawn towards.

Is that what readers want?  I don’t know.  My own tastes tend towards more complex stories where not everything is black and white, but perhaps I’m the one outside of the mainstream.  I admit I certainly have quirkier tastes, but that’s because stories, to me, have to have some elements of realism.  I have difficulty believing a story that strays too far.  What do you think – black and white, or shades or grey?

Schism Release Date

I’m ecstatic to announce that July 27^th is the official release date for Schism.  I’ll make a bit more of a fuss as the date gets closer, but I wanted both of my readers to know when the novel would be available for purchase.  Why July 27^th?  Because it’s close enough to both parties political conventions that passions should be starting to run higher, but not so close that I can’t build momentum.  Hopefully some folks will start looking at my work, watch the conventions – and they heat they bring – and it’ll start to gain steam.  I guess we’ll find out!

Ascribing A Point Of View

One of the pitfalls of writing is that many people will assume that the writer agrees with the point of view the characters espouse.  I’ve been called an atheist, a religious zealot, a peacenik, and a warmonger.  With the release of Schism, I’m sure I’ll be called a liberal, a conservative, a hippie, a redneck, a communist, and a nazi.  Why?  Because the characters in the novel hold a wide assortment of views, and in order to best capture the spirit of the book, I’ve had to write from each of those points of view.

Normally I wouldn’t care.  For the most part, I still don’t care.  Unfortunately, in today’s polarized world, folks go looking to be offended, so they’ll find snippets to support their outrage(and believe me, there’s plenty).  The way the military is portrayed in the book will be condemned by those who are all rah-rah about the Armed Forces, and I’m sure they’ll say I hate our Soldiers.  The environmental movement comes out no better, so I’m sure all the Gaia worshippers will say I hate the Earth.

Truth be told, I don’t know how to write in any other way and make the characters believable.  I’ve seen lots of wooden and stereotypical characters in books, and those characters usually reveal the author’s own biases, making for a less complex and enjoyable story.  To me, the best books are those that have characters who are believable and genuine in their motives(after all, no bad guy really believes he’s a bad guy).  I loved Ralph Peters’ War in 2020, and the commander of the enemy forces, General Noburu Kabata is one of the most sympathetic characters of the book.  Within the Thrawn Trilogy, getting to finally see beyond the motives of folks like Gallad Palleon and Borsk Fey’Lya made us better understand why they did stuff beyond “Oh, I’m evil, and I like it.”  Not only did that stuff not detract from the book, but it enhanced enjoyment of it.

The difference with Schism is that I’m dealing with more real-world issues people are familiar with rather than space battles and elven wars, so will that affect how people view the book, as well as myself?  Hopefully those that read Schism will also read this post and remember that it’s just a book.

Planning To Blog

I had quite a long hiatus from blogging.  From the beginning of October of 2019 through the end of March of 2020, I had a grand total of four blog posts, most of which said I was too busy to blog.  Since the beginning of April, I’ve become much more consistent.  How am I managing that?

Simple – I have to plan.  A lot.

Previously, I was able to keep up on blogging by waiting until the week of, or even the night before, and writing on whatever came into my head.  If I had no topic, I’d scour other blogs for ideas or write about how I had no ideas.  It was all scattershot, and it led to my blogging demise when life got hectic(as life tends to do).

It wasn’t that I never had good ideas to blog, but I never wrote them down, thinking instead that I’d just remember them.  Nope, never worked out(turns out my memory isn’t that good).  So the biggest change now is that I have a slip of paper on my desk, and anytime I get a blogging idea, I write it down.  If I’m upstairs, I walk downstairs to my office to write it down.  If I’m out walking my dog, I put the idea into my phone(I don’t always do that because, honestly, I’m an old fuddy-duddy and prefer physical written words).

As I start to gather ideas, I look to see how many times the next month my blog is scheduled for.  I number my ideas until I have enough for the next month.  And then…I get to work.  I try to write three or four posts in a night or weekend that I can then save and later transfer to this blog.  I then cut and paste, working in the links where necessary, and set for a later publication date.  I can move stuff around if I need to for breaking news and the like, but it keeps me ahead.  It’s working so far – let’s see if I can keep it up.

Research Versus Reward

Research is a large part of writing, even in the world of fiction.  That’s because readers will only suspend their disbelief for so long.  Most stories have to be grounded somewhat in reality, even if they’re set in some fantastical world.  And the closer to our reality the story is, the more grounded in that reality it must be.

With that said, it seems I do an awful lot of research for things that are barely included in the story.  Take Schism, for example.  There’s a scene in there that revolves around the changes made to parts of the prison system.  Now, I’ve never been to prison, so most of my “knowledge” comes from what I’ve seen on TV.  So I reached out to an old friend of mine who has actually been to prison.  He was happy to provide me with insight on how the daily routine works, what the guards are really like, and how one gets privileges.  We exchanged a few notes, and we had a pretty long phone call about it.  So when it came time for me to write up the parts of the book that took place in a prison, that gave me material for all of…a few paragraphs and one section of the book.

This isn’t the first time this has happened.  Whether learning about the Mormon Church for Akeldama or researching the angelic hierarchy for Salvation Day, the amount of research is rarely reflected in the work.  This isn’t a gripe or lament, but merely a statement of fact.

So the next time you read a book and get a feel of true authenticity for it, try to appreciate the time it took to research what’s behind the story.  Trust me, it’s more than you realize.

Mad About Inclusion

I’ve spoken a great deal in the last year or so about the woke-scolds who do all they can to be offended and suck the joy out of everything by finding tiny flaws, blowing them up beyond their intended significance, and yelling at people who don’t agree with them.  I do not try to please the woke-scolds, because it’s an impossibility.  How do I know this?  Because of Harry Potter.

I’m a HUGE Harry Potter fan(the books…the movies were okay but not as magical).  I didn’t read my first Harry Potter book until I was 29, having blown them off as children’s books.  But a guy I worked with pestered me to give them a try, and I started out with Harry Potter andthe Prisoner of Azkaban(the third one).  Suddenly I was hooked!  I went back and read the first two, and then #4, before waiting breathlessly for each new one to come out(and I read each in less than 24 hours the day I got my copy).  As any real Harry Potter fan will tell you, you seek out new info on Harry’s world.  JK Rowling has happily fed fans with the sustenance they’ve asked for, putting out Fantastic Beasts and Where to FindThem, Beedle The Bard, and a couple of new movies.  She also tried to give more depth to the magical world by adding in schools from around the world(which was what I really wanted to learn about).  We found out about Ilvermorney, Uagadou, Castlebruxo, and Mahoutokoro.

Unfortunately, Rowling’s attempt to be more diverse and inclusive came back to bite her as woke-scolds around the world decided that her inclusions weren’t diverse enough, that she was being prejudiced and bigoted in how and what she included.  Academics from Swarthmore and reporters from Vox came down on her for what they decried were stereotypes and cultural centrism lacking inclusion(such as Africa having only one wizarding school while Europe had three(at least…four if you include the Russian school)).  Seeing the political correctness on display made me want to vomit.

For starters, nice to see that Rowling’s attempt to broaden the base of her world was met by folks so ready to take offense over a fictional world meant mostly for the imaginations of children, but there was the further lack of imagination on the part of the woke-scolds.  Rowling herself had to come out and say that these were not the only schools, but only the most prominent, and that there were smaller schools all over the place.  You know…because folks who want to be enraged can’t possibly envision beyond that which is in print.  Nope, no more imagining these things outside of the written word!

Rowling had to actually spend time trying to show that these weren’t the only places, and that there was a diverse world of magic out there.  She’s more patient than I am – I’d have told the woke-scolds, in no uncertain terms, to go fuck themselves and write their own damn books if it mean that much to them.  It’s not like she wrote about Uagadou selling others into slavery, or Mahoutokoro being run by geishas and men with large teeth.  No, she simply talked briefly about the schools to satiate the thirst for more her fans had shown.  And most appreciated it – I know I did – but some folks won’t appreciate any effort unless it’s exactly what they wanted and how they view diversity.  I wonder what it must be like to be so hate-filled that one seeks out popular works intended mainly for children to rage against.  I hope I’m never that angry.

Ebook Business Decisions

I love print books.  The visceral feel of a book in print is one of the greatest sensations out there.  To be honest, that’s one of the reasons I do both print and ebooks.  I know ebooks are waaaaayyyyyy cheaper to produce, but I also like to hold my own book in my hands.  Ask any author out there, and they’ll tell you about the joy that comes from holding a representation of their work in their hands.

That said, independent publishing isn’t without its expenses, and I haven’t sold enough to just throw caution to the wind.  I’m wondering whether I should go to ebooks exclusively until my business grows beyond what it is now(if ever).  Is this a business, or is it a vanity project?

It’s a hard decision to make.  Take emotion out of it, and it’d be easy, but we writers aren’t completely emotionless, or else we wouldn’t have what it takes to write well.  I do love having a physical book of my own, but I don’t have the money to just do whatever I want.  I gotta make this decision soon, but I haven’t made it yet,  Maybe we’ll find out how much fortitude I really have…

Connecting In An Age Of Coronavirus

One of the best memories I have of the publication of Akeldama was the book signing I did at Park Road Shopping Center.  It wasn’t packed, but folks came out to talk and get me to sign their books.  All in all, I had a blast, as not only did many of my friends come out to see me, but I got to meet new people I’d never met.

Unfortunately, times have changed.  In the age of Coronavirus, how do we get out to meet fans.  I enjoy blogging and responding to the (few) comments I get, but that doesn’t match the feeling of meeting face to face and chatting.  So much gets lost, from facial expressions to body language, that gauging enthusiasm is challenging.  Moreover, talking to a reader face to face can also generate enthusiasm and get more people interested(how do you think I built my initial mailing list?).

Now, however, most bookstores are closed, or limiting capacity severely.  Writers are only seeing faces through masks, and we have to stay at least six feet apart.  No more handshakes, no more hugs, no more fist bumps.  It makes connection with an audience difficult in a business where establishing a connection is already hard.

I hope we come through this soon.  I’m not totally altruistic – I want to be able to connect so I can sell – but I enjoy the connection with even a single reader.  Are those days behind us?

Social Media Upkeep

It seems that authors must have a social media presence in today’s world to have any hope of success.  Even big name folks like JK Rowling and Stephen King have Twitter accounts.  And while I update this blog and put stuff out on Facebook every so often, I don’t have much beyond that.  Sure, I have a Twitter page, but it only gets updated on the rare occasion I even think about it(I tend to view Twitter as a cesspool of trollery, so I am not often on; besides, since I tend to be more bland online, I don’t draw much traffic).

Am I missing the boat?  I wrote a couple of months ago about an author friend who intentionally courts controversy.  I have very strong opinions in private, but my brand isn’t strong enough to try to piss off half the potential audience(it’s also not the kind of books In write, either).  Is that a mistake?  Twitter can draw a crowd, but the crowd it draws seems to be angry all the time and just itching for a reason to cancel people.  Twitter mobs have brought down lots of folks for the crime of humor being misunderstood in written form.  Therefore I usually don’t do the Twitter thing.

What other social media outlets are there that folks should look into?  Is social media even really necessary?  I’ve always said it usually takes some sort of viral event to get an author prominence, even with an abundance of talent, but the only viral events I’ve seen in social media tend to turn out negatively for the subject unless they rescue kids from a burning orphanage.  And while yes, even folks like Rowling or King are online, they don’t really need it since they were already wildly successful prior.  Worse yet, both have managed to anger potential audiences with recent tweets.

What are your thoughts?  Which parts of social media are best for the exposure, and do they hurt more than they help?

Old Mistakes

Perfection may be the goal, but it’s rarely something we attain in life, whether it’s through our actions or through our writing.  Unfortunately, writing is where our lack of perfection tends to stand out.  Spelling mistrakes, misplaced, commas, and not making sense words here, are what readers notice.  Yes, we proofread and use editors, but things just get overlooked sometimes.  But how do we deal with them?

Prior to publication, dealing with writing mistakes is easy.  Just go back in and fix what you screwed up.  Even after publication, that can sometimes be accomplished without too many people noticing.  Unfortunately, the errors are sometimes orders of magnitude larger, and that’s where things get tricky.

In my first novel, I used a restaurant called Philippe’sThe Original as a plot device.  I went through the process of contacting them and getting their permission to use their name and restaurant.  I promised them a free copy, and they sounded very excited.  This place is in LA, so maybe, I figured, this could be a way to go viral!  However, things did not work out as I planned, and by that I mean that I misspelled their name in my book(Phillipe’s instead of Philippe’s).

I didn’t catch this error until after I sent out the copy, and I was(and still am) mortified.  I have since fixed this grave mistake, but I haven’t mustered up the courage to send them a new copy(along with a note of apology).  Yes, it’s a pride thing, but the shame I feel over this error, when I went to such effort to get their permission in the first place, makes me feel like I let them down.  I know I should get over it, and I will, but that doesn’t make the error any less cringeworthy.

The lesson, I think, is that we all make mistakes, and we have to try to correct them when they’re discovered.  That can be much harder than it sounds.  Human arrogance and ego get in the way as we wonder what the reaction will be.  And I do wonder…what will the reaction, if any, be?