The Month of March; a Busy Time!

Those of you who follow my blog will be well aware that I’ve been rather active during March. So I’ll make this brief, if you don’t mind.

I’ve written 25 posts for this blog and some others as a guest, read 3 books and reviewed 2 of them. I’ve done a deep edit on 25 chapters, averaging 4,000 words apiece, of the third book of my epic fantasy. I’ve read two writing mags and updated the writing contests page twice. And I’ve worked with my editor in the preparation and participation in the launch of my latest book. That was Joinings: A Seared Sky, for those who haven’t been paying attention!

So, no contests entered, and no stories written or submitted to journals. But a new book on the stocks, which must count for something, surely? I committed to publishing four new books this year. One done, another three to go.

The chart, explained:

Writing - initial creation of stories, blog posts, reviews and longer works.

Editing - polishing of all written work to make it suitable for readers.

Research - discovery of info for story content, market research, contests and blog posts.

Reading - books and writing magazines.

Networking - emails, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and comments.

Admin - story submission, blog posting, marketing, organisation, tax, and general admin tasks.

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August: A Month of Maybes

The writing, which is what this blog is really all about, has taken precedence this month, with 45% of my working time spent putting words onto paper (metaphorically speaking, of course, since I type direct to screen!). The third volume of the fantasy trilogy, provisionally titled ‘A Seared Sky’, is progressing at a good pace. The month started with 24,131 words and 6 chapters completed. It ended with 21 chapters and 81,672 words committed to the MS. That’s 57,541 words this month, or an average of 1,856 each day. Not as much as I’d like, but a reasonable move forward. Of course, I’ve also introduced another 5 named characters, and it takes time to develop such newcomers to the story. If you look at the post immediately prior to this, you’ll see how I go about that process.

The domestics have naturally played their part this month, with Valerie still unable to use one arm. The cast was supposed to come off last Thursday, and it did. But she’s still in some pain and they decided to replace it for another week. The new cast is slightly shorter, lighter and a rather fetching purple hue. We’ll both be heartily pleased to see the end of it and Valerie’s return to normal functioning. Mind you, the break has taught me things of which I was previously unaware; Valerie does a lot more around the house than I’d ever suspected. So, I’ll be helping out a little more than in the past.

I’ve done 3 sessions of updates on the Writing Contests page, see the tab above if you’re willing to try your hand at earning a bit of cash and kudos for your writing.

I’ve written 7 posts for this blog (which, by the way, has reached a minor milestone today, with 150,000 page views). Also read and reviewed 6 books. Naturally, I’ve spent a good deal of time in networking: engaged in short conversations on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Google+ and Pinterest. I enjoy exchanging ideas and thoughts with other people, so please do join me.

The coming month promises to be every bit as full as the last. Our daughter, Kate, reaches the significant age of 21 during the early part of September and we’ll be celebrating that rite of passage accordingly. Valerie and I will reach 25 years of wedded bliss (that’s a silver wedding anniversary, for those who are unfamiliar with such things) later in the month, and we intend to celebrate that event in style, meaning there will be a period during which I won’t be writing. That’s also likely to delay the report for September by a number of days.

I’m considering introducing some of the characters from my fantasy to readers here over the next few weeks, so look out for some character descriptions. And, I think that’s about it for now. As ever, I welcome your comments.

The accompanying chart is more or less self-explanatory, but here’s an explanation anyway:

The chart, explained:

'Writing' - initial creation of stories, blog posts, reviews and longer works.

'Editing' - polishing of all written work to make it suitable for readers.

'Research' - discovery of info for story content, market research, contests and blog posts.

'Reading' - books and writing magazines.

'Networking' - emails, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and comments.

'Admin' - story submission, blog posting, marketing, organisation, tax, and general admin tasks.

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A Fantastic Talk on Marketing.

Dan Grubb

Like many writers, I loathe the whole paraphernalia of marketing. But, also in common with most writers, I want my books to be read. This produces a bit of a problem, since there are so many books published that authorial silence is hardly likely to produce much in the way of attention from the reading public.

My writers’ group, an amazing mix of professional scribes who call themselves ‘Hornsea Writers’, for the very good reason that Hornsea is their geographical meeting place, had the opportunity this week to have a talk delivered by independent publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing’s CEO, Dan Grubb. He gave us a talk on, you’ve guessed it: marketing.

Amazing, inspiring, informative and, above all, entertaining, Dan’s talk was delivered with passion and professionalism, which is no surprise, given the way he runs his business. I’m not going to précis the content here, since Dan’s producing his own blog on that (I strongly suggest you subscribe to his weekly newsletter here, so you can catch that when it appears.)

But I will pass on a couple of his pointers:

·      If you don’t already belong, join these sites and be active – Facebook, Google+, Goodreads, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr,  Stumbleupon and Youtube. And, if you don’t already blog, DO! Blogger or Wordpress are probably the best free sites for that. Connect ALL these sites.

·      Whenever and wherever you post, make it engaging and interesting. There’s huge competition out there and it’s easy to be ignored and/or rejected, so give your readers something that’s of value to THEM.

It isn’t often that a small writers’ group, some of whom are quite tall, gets a talk from a publisher, so it’s as well for members to take heed of what they hear. What did I take away from his presentation?  Well, many things. But, principally, I was inspired to take a more positive view of marketing. To view it not simply as a sales platform but as a way of interacting with actual and potential readers. Now, that is something I can do with pleasure. In fact, it’s why I write this blog.

So, look out for Dan’s blog post, visit his website at Fantastic Books Publishing, and follow his advice there. Meantime, please connect with me on the sites listed above. The more connections we all have, the greater the chance that we can help each other.

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February Is Over; How Did You Do?

The first monthly analysis of my time, following the example of the earlier weekly stats.

Target was eight stories submitted for contest and magazines. I achieved four, two to each. Halfway there, so not a complete loss.

Six books read and reviewed. A reasonable success, considering I had aimed at one per week. So, ahead of the game here.

Four blog posts written and posted. On target for this one.

Five Chapters of the fantasy edited. Not as much as I would have liked, but a reasonable amount of work.

Three short stories written and two of those completed. Not too bad.

This was always likely to be a difficult month, as will March in all probability. I’m still engaged in the day job and this is the busiest time of the year for us, as we approach the end of the tax year and prepare for the next. So, those days in the office have been trying. But only a few more weeks to go. I finish the part time employment in March and my last day at the office will be 21^st March. It can’t come soon enough.

I’m relatively satisfied with my performance, though I would have preferred to have done more of the fantasy and submitted more stories. I spent a fair amount of time on various problems outside the writing but associated with it tangentially. I’m in the process of swapping ISP and that is not going at all smoothly. And my virus software has been causing me some problems, which have taken up a good deal of time and emotional energy. But, all in all, I’m happier with the proportions of my time spent on the various aspects of my writing life. Of course, I would have preferred to be able to spend more time in actually writing, but that will improve starting April, when I will become a full time writer. Whooopeee!

   

So, how did your February go for you? Achievements? Problems? Excuses? Triumphs? Set-backs? Tell us all about your progress, please.

The pie chart, explained:

'Writing' - initial creation of stories, blog posts, reviews and longer works.

'Editing' - polishing of all written work to make it suitable for readers.

'Research' - discovery of info for story content, market research, contests and blog posts.

'Reading' - books and writing magazines.

'Networking' - emails, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Google+ activity.

'Admin' - story submission, blog posting, marketing, organisation and general admin tasks.

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Four Weeks in: How Are You Doing?

Been a funny week for me. As many regulars will know, I’ve suffered from ME/CFS for around 10 years. It’s a weird condition, coming and going, fooling you into believing you’ve recovered when things are going fine for a while, and then returning to bite you on the bum when the stress increases. That happened this week and I had to take the last day of my day job, Friday, off. It drains my batteries and makes everything much harder to do. It also means I have to take more frequent and longer rests in order to recharge those batteries. Today, Tuesday, I’m feeling as though I’m back on the road to recovery, so I hope to be up to normal speed shortly. At any rate, I managed an hour’s ballroom dancing with my wife last night and I’m not suffering too much this morning.

So, what have I managed this 4^th week of the year?

I’ve edited 2 chapters of the fantasy, written a new short story, started another, edited another 2, submitted 2 contest entries and sent 2 stories off to magazines, thereby catching up on last week’s targets. I’ve reviewed my 6^th book of the year and started reading the 7^th of my target of 52, and written and posted another blog post.

All in all, not bad. I’d have liked to have completed the story I’ve started (maybe today I’ll manage that). I’d like to have done a couple more chapters of the fantasy. But one thing I’ve learned over the last 10 years is that I can do so much and no more. Once I try to exceed the work my batteries will power, I simply become drained and then have to spend more time recovering than I’ve used in producing. In the end, it’s not worth the wasted time and energy. So, I have to pace myself in order to get at least something done. I have a theory, which will shortly be either borne out or shattered, that it’s my day job, the part-time employment, that causes the ME/CFS. I cease that work in late March and retire from the wage-slave arena in early April. We’ll see then just how correct have been my suspicions.

So, that’s me for this first month of the year. How about you? Keeping those resolutions? Reaching your targets? Enjoying what you’re doing?

The pie chart, explained:

'Writing' - initial creation of stories, blog posts, reviews and longer works.

'Editing' - polishing of all written work to make it suitable for readers.

'Research' - discovery of info for story content, market research, contests and blog posts.

'Reading' - books and writing magazines.

'Networking' - emails, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook activity.

'Admin' - story submission, blog posting, marketing, organisation and general admin tasks.

(You’ll note, if you’re a regular visitor, that I’ve substituted ‘Networking’ for ‘Emails’ here; it seemed a more accurate label.)

Share your triumphs and disasters here, so your fellow writers can commiserate, congratulate or simply empathise.

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A Partial Success, or a Partial Failure?

Depends on whether you’re a glass half full or half empty type. For me, it’s always half full. Optimist. Always have been.

So, this is the 3^rd week of the new year and how have I done with my targets?

1 story sent to a contest? Missed, but I’ve sent 1 today and will attempt to do another this week.

1 story to a magazine? Missed, but I’ll attempt to make that up this week.

Reading target is for a book a week. I’m currently reading book number 6, so well ahead of target there. Good.

Editing? I’ve done another chapter of the fantasy and a short story.

Writing? A short story finished and another written from scratch.

Excuses? Well, I had a doctor’s appointment on Monday, which took up the morning. On Sunday, I took my daughter back to university, which took up the whole day. I’m still doing the day job, which takes up another 2½  days. And I still need to take my regular rests to deal with the ME/CFS. And, from time to time, I like to relax a little, take a walk with my wife, spend some quality time with her, you know?

So, how do I feel about the week? All things considered, I’m satisfied I’ve done what I could.

How goes it for you? Brag about your successes, confess your sins: there’s a space for comments below.

The pie chart explained:

'Writing' includes the creation of stories, blog posts and reviews.

'Editing' includes the polishing of all written work to make it suitable for reading.

'Research' includes discovery of info for story content, market research, contest info and blog post research.

'Reading' includes books and writing magazines.

'Emails' includes emails, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook activity.

'Admin' includes story submission, blog posting, marketing, organisation and general admin tasks.

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So, How's It Going For You So Far?

Some time ago, I posted a piece on time and the way it can be misused without us really noticing. At the end of last year, I posted a piece on my activities during 2012, detailing the results of my work as a writer.

For this year, I've decided to post at the end of each week on my activities. This is as much for me as it is for visitors to the blog. For me, it will act as a motivator and keep me on track, I hope. For visitors, it will illustrate the value, or otherwise, of those activities we engage in as writers.

I was unprepared for the first week, so I've combined the first 2 weeks here. In any case, that first week of the new year is always a little different, with the aftermath of the holiday season inevitably encroaching on normality.

Let me explain the pie chart:

'Writing' includes the creation of stories, blog posts and reviews.

'Editing' includes the polishing of all written work to make it suitable for reading.

'Research' includes discovery of info for story content, market research, contest info and blog post research.

'Reading' includes books and writing magazines.

'Emails' includes emails, Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook activity.

'Admin' includes story submission, blog posting, marketing, organisation and general admin tasks.

And, for this post, I also had to spend some time both devising the timesheet I used for recording my time usage and learning how to render the results into the pie chart that illustrates it.

I'm hoping that this visual presentation will make the reality of my time usage much clearer. Certainly, I'm staggered by how much of my time has been spent on the various 'Emails' activities. I accept that much of that time has been used in reading webpages that some emails have introduced, and that, as a result, I've learned things about the current state of the book world. But a good deal has also been spent on less fruitful pursuits, such as Pinterest. One thing is clear already; if I'm to spend more time actually writing, I need to reduce the time I'm currently spending in what are largely irrelevant pursuits.

I set myself a couple of targets at the start of the year. I intend to submit at least 1 story to a magazine and 1 entry to a writing contest per week. I'm pleased to report that I've achieved both. 2 contest entries and 2 stories sent off to magazines.

Under the heading of 'Writing', I've created one new short story of 4,000 words and written 3 book reviews. Not enough, but a reasonable start.

Under 'Editing', I've edited the 4 stories I've submitted and 3 chapters of my fantasy trilogy. Again, not enough, but better than it might have been.

It's my intention to return to the weekly posts on writing, giving views, opinions and advice where I'm able and, hopefully offering useful, or at least, contentious information to stimulate thought and debate on writing topics. It's possible I may indulge in the occasional opinion piece on other matters from time to time, when an issue particularly fires my passion.

But, more than anything else, this year I intend to spend as much time as possible in creating new writing and in preparing the fantasy trilogy for publication. The first and second books are written and the first edited. The second is currently undergoing the penultimate edit and, when that's complete, I shall start writing the third book. I shall also, at that point, publish book one. Watch this space for announcements.

One further post that might be of interest dealt with procrastination.

So, that's how it's going so far for me. How's it going for you in this new year? Made and kept your resolutions? Let me know. It's easy to add a comment at the foot of the post, you know.

Facts and Figures for my 2012

English: A pie chart created in Excel 2007 showing the content of tweets on Twitter, based on the data gathered by Pear Analytics in 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First, I’d like to pass on a heartfelt THANK YOU to all those readers who have reviewed my writing. Almost without exception these reviews, the majority from people I don’t know, have been positive. That, of course, is very encouraging. It strikes me that the best action I can take to truly thank those who have taken the trouble to share their thoughts on my work, especially those who’ve enjoyed it, is to write more. And that’s what I intend for the coming year. So, my thanks, again, for all those who’ve read and reviewed my work, and my assurance that there’ll be more to come and that it will be the best I can produce.

Second, a brief, but fairly detailed, account of my year. Why? Well, in April 2013 I retire from my part-time day job and will be able to concentrate full time on writing. This means an entirely different attitude to what I do and how I do it. At the behest of the so-called experts in the matter of selling books, I’ve spent a major portion of 2012 building an ‘author platform’ online. This is something, we’re told, that’s essential for the serious writer. I have to tell you that my experience places a large question mark over that assertion.

At the foot of this post, not very far from here, I’ll insert my facts and figures as they stand at the point of writing this: i.e. 20:30 BST, New Year’s Eve.

The simple fact is, in spite of my efforts to build this apparently essential tool to marketing, my sales of books have been anything but startling. There’s huge competition out there, with thousands of new books published every month. Many of these are very poor. But a reasonable number are good and there are a few that are undeniably outstanding. However, quality appears to be only a small factor in producing sales. I’ve read extracts from best-selling books and found myself appalled by poor grammar, syntax and characterisation. Often, however, these best-sellers have, at core, a good story. What is depressing is that, with a little more care and professionalism, many of these sub-standard books could be really great works; but the book-buying public appear willing to settle for ‘that’ll do’ from these good story-tellers.

So, it looks as though, in order to increase my readership, I need to combine good story-telling (for my readers), with good quality writing (for my personal satisfaction). Oh, hang on, that’s what I thought I was doing! Perhaps, then, I simply need to actually write and publish more. And that’s what I intend for the coming year.

The following list of figures will be a source of motivation for the coming year and of comparison at the same time next year, to see whether I’ve managed to get more work out there. It should also enable me to judge whether such an increase in ‘exposure’ actually bears more fruit than the marketing activity I’ve performed this year.

2012

Published work:

Sensuous Touches, an anthology of erotic tales (8).

Heir to Death’s Folly, a short story in the gothic horror tradition.

Rebirth, my contribution to the science fiction anthology published by Fantastic Books Publishing, Fusion.

Writing Contests:

4 entries, one of which was short-listed.

Blog:

1062 posts in total since the blog began.

447 followers

85,511 page views

18,882 visitors who identified their location.

Facebook:

Author page – 379 ‘Likes’

Personal profile – 1599 friends

Goodreads:

882 books listed as read (the real number is probably around 3,500 but I haven’t listed them all yet), 52 of them in 2012.

130 reviews written (52 in 2012)

2018 friends.

136 titles in my ‘to read’ list.

49 ratings and 21 reviews of my books on Goodreads.

Goodreads reading challenge - 52 books in the year - Read - 52 books in the year!

LinkedIn:

2274 connections

Pinterest:

662 followers

4774 pins on 32 boards

Google +:

336 in my circles

In 183 circles.

Twitter:

5,110 followers

Following 5,012

11,823 tweets

So, there it is. If you'd like to connect with me on any of these sites, the links are there for you. Lets' see what 2013 brings, eh?

And, for now, let me wish you all a New Year that brings you all the good things you wish for you and yours.

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Do You Work Best in Chaos or Control?

Stones on the beach at Flamborough

Do you work well in clutter? Does it really matter to you if the desk is covered in piles of manuscripts, notes to remind you, a document stand overflowing with ‘things to do’? Is it no problem for you to step over those things you’re planning to sort out every time you enter the room?

On the other hand, do you have to have a tidy desk, with everything in its place and nothing outstanding. Is that box of odds and sods already sorted for sale on Ebay or ready for the local charity shop? Or does such a box never exist in your life because you always clear these things as they come along? Is your inbox only ever the place where new emails live for the short while it takes you to deal with them? Are you obsessive about the places your things are located, ensuring everything is always exactly where you want it?

I lie somewhere in between these two extremes of chaos and obsessive tidiness.

For a number of reasons, with which I won’t bore you, I’ve had to allow certain irritations to build up over the last few weeks. It’s always a question of priorities. But I do find it difficult to be creative and disciplined in my writing habits when the desk has a pile of correspondence awaiting attention, the inbox has over 100 emails I need to explore further, the room I use as a study is crowded with objects that need some attention before I can either sell them or recycle them via the local Help the Aged shop.

So, on Wednesday afternoon, when I arrived home from the half week I spend at an office in order to supplement my earnings from writing, I decided enough was enough. It was time for a serious bout of deck-clearing. I want to get on with the fantasy trilogy I’m writing, and all these interruptions are getting in the way. The only solution is to deal with them.

So far, I’ve reduced the inbox to 13, and 12 of those are required for future action I can’t actually take at the moment. I’ve updated the Writing Contests page on this blog and therefore removed from the desk the pile of magazines, leaflets and other printed matter I consult for this task. I’ve restored my daughter’s old computer to a working state, which took some 10 hours of attention, reformatting and re-installing of software, so I can see if that will sell on Ebay. Along the  way, I’ve dealt with all new emails (I get around 70 a day), posted a couple of items on the blog, kept up to date with Pinterest and Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn, all of which are social sites I use to keep in touch with readers. But, as a happily married man who wishes to remain so, I’ve also spent some real quality time with my wife, who is a great support to my writing activity. An earlier post on here describes our day in Hull to see the Da Vinci drawings and watch the latest Bond film. And we also managed a longish walk along the local cliffs near Flamborough. I love the sea and find it refreshes my spirit. Took some pictures along the way, which I’ll add to the albums I have on Facebook when time allows.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, the lesson of the last few days has been that I work better without clutter. And, if I’m able to keep it at bay, I’ll get a lot more writing done. So, I’ve found my ideal working situation. Have you found yours, or are you continually in a state where you’re either fighting against a chaos over which you have no control, or are you so busy keeping everything tidy that you have no real time to do what matters most; you writing?

There you go. I’ve even found time to write and post this piece on the blog. So, here’s your challenge: if you’re not already working in your ideal environment, do something about it and sort it out so you can work in your optimum way and actually get that writing done.

Good luck, and have fun!

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