Tag Archives | Indie Life

Indie Life – Taking risks.

By on February 12, 2014 in publishing industry, Writing

Welcome to what is the last Indie Life post. The Indelibles have streamlined their efforts as we are all busy writing and publishing. Thank you for joining us for the last one! Visit the Indelibles for all the links.

I’ve been thinking about risks and mistakes and how it’s almost impossible not to make them.

I don’t mean obvious ones like not hiring an editor. I mean subtle decisions that arise that don’t seem to have a right or wrong answer. Like our sales are down or never took off – does that mean I need to redo the cover? What about paying big bucks for ads or joining a costly Net Galley co-op? What about investing in print books and attending a signing?

Sometimes we take risks. Sometimes they pay off. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes we have to eat the cost and try not to make that mistake again. Sometimes it wasn’t a mistake. It was just something we had no control over.

We’re going to have ups and down. We’re going to have decisions that pay off big time and vice versa. Just don’t let the ones that don’t pay off get you down.

What are some potential risks you have taken on the Indie journey?

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Indie Life – Genre hopping and why I’m not.

By on January 8, 2014 in publishing industry

 

Going Indie means freedom! Rah! Rah! Shisk boom bah!

That means we can write what ever we want in what ever genre we want and no one is there to tell us no. I appreciate that freedom and the creative control of self-publishing. I do, really.

Of course, authors can do this all with varied results. The switching of genres could be a smashing success or it could result in little cross over of fans and basically rebuilding from scratch. How will it turn out for you? I don’t know.  🙂

I can say that with the first book in a new series releasing this spring, I am extremely happy that it is within my genre of YA contemporary. That means I can cross promote! For me, this is huge when it comes to marketing.

Among many ideas, a month before my new book releases I can put the first chapter in the back of A Spy Like Me and I won’t leave readers scratching their heads.

What do you think about genre hopping? Have you tried it with success?

Check out the Indelibles blog for all the participants!

**This is not to say you shouldn’t try a new genre. I’m all for creative freedom.
***This also is not to say that writing within genre will mean success or immediate sales, though one can hope.

 

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Indie Life – Why I revise right away.

By on December 11, 2013 in Writing

Welcome to Indie Life, a monthly post about anything and everything to do with Indie publishing! Please sign up for the Indie Life newsletter for the monthly reminder to post and for a guest post by a fellow Indie Lifer.

Check out Indie Life at the Indelibles to sign up or for the complete list of links.

Indie Life

 

Why I revise right away.

I realize that revising a finished first draft right away completely goes against the current advice to let your manuscript sit for a month, but that’s not best for me for several reasons.

I write my first drafts in Scrivener and there’s the sidebar where I can type in notes. As I’m writing and realize earlier plot points or chapters need to change, I’ll go to that chapter and on the notes part, I’ll type in what or how I need to rewrite.

When I type The End for the first draft and celebrate with hot cocoa and cookies, I know what needs to happen as far as the basic plot. And when I finally read the whole story on my ereader, I want to know that at that point, it’s the story I want to tell. So usually I go back and make those changes right away, while I’m still in the story and I’m still in the heads of the characters.

Now, after that initial rewrite, which is sometimes a lot and sometimes not, then I like to wait a week or so or longer before I do a read through.

So there you go, the reasons I don’t put my manuscript away for a month, at least not right away.

What do you do after you type The End on your first draft?

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Just a theory on trust – Indie Life!

By on November 13, 2013 in Writing

Welcome to Indie Life – a monthly post about the life and world of self publishing sponsored by the Indelibles. Click on the picture for all the Indie Life links.

And brand new is the Indie Life Newsletter, which will go out once a month to serve as a reminder, but will also include a guest post from an Indie Lifer! So sign up to receive the newsletter next month! Don’t miss out!

At some point we have to trust in ourselves as writers. Honestly? I think it took me longer than other writers to do this – and my trust is still growing.

I think this trust can happen at any point: during your first manuscript, your fifth, or maybe it won’t happen until your tenth. Before that trust happens we might rely on writing crutches whether it be over-editing, over-plotting, an addiction to rewriting, cutting our best scenes or snippets based out of fear. It will be different for everyone.

Even though I’m not doing Nanowrimo, I’m rounding into the last stretch of a first draft of a new series (possibly) and I’m fighting to trust in my muse and let go of my crutches.

With this story, I’m letting go, jumping off the cliff and letting the wind hold me up. I’m trying my hardest to trust in the story, the characters and how they reveal themselves to me. My theory is that our best writing, our best stories will come when we fully trust ourselves and let go.

And fly.

What about you? Do you struggle with this kind of trust?

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Indie Life – Choosing the right premise.

By on October 9, 2013 in Plotting a novel

Welcome to Indie Life a monthly post where Indie authors share good news, milestones, and/or tips about living the Indie Life.

 

I pressed publish on book 3, Twist of Fate, yesterday with a feeling of bitter sweetness after spending more than two years with the characters, but I loved having the opportunity to finish a series. I learned so much about writing and perseverance and the ups and downs of publishing through finishing Circle of Spies. I loved how the last book wrapped up, so I can send the series off with well wishes and lots of happiness.

This past fall it was time to start something new. It’s not coming up with an idea that is the problem for me. It’s deciding which one has the balance of something I’d love to read, something I’d love to write, and does the premise have the potential for more than one book.

I went through ten outlines for ten different novels before deciding on the title and story for my new work. It’s very exciting writing new characters and discovering their problems and turmoil in their lives.

How do you balance your brand and choosing a premise for your next story? Or do you feel with the Indie Life you can write whatever you want?

Please head back to the Indelibles blog to visit the rest of the Indie Life posts!

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