Friday, September 27, 2013

Quote-Progress-Unquote

Just a few updates today!

I've been working pretty consistently on the sequel to The Outcasts of Vampire Flats. I have an outline going, a synopsis, and I even have the first couple of chapters written. They're very rough, but I think they're a great opening for the next book.

As far as what I want to accomplish for the next book, there are a few things:

Keep it Brief!

I'm not writing epic, Jordan-esque fantasy. My goal going into these stories was to take a minimalist approach to the genre. Focus on dialogue, character, and how the story is affecting those characters. And because I'm also (trying) to incorporate some humor, I don't want to overstay my welcome. I really believe that when you're dealing with a humorous story, the best course of action is to get in, get out. Don't linger or draw things out for too long.

I want to keep that "philosophy," if I can call it that, intact as much as I possibly can. I do want to explore the Realm of Shiloft a bit more than last time, and I do want to shake things up a bit. But my goal going forward is to continue keeping things simple.

Acys, Jasper, and Kalen are always going to be the focus, and how this world constantly seems to go out of its way to mess with them has to be the running gag.

Spotlight on Shiloft

To expound upon one of the last points, I want the second book to explore the Realm of Shiloft a bit more than last time. Because of the nature and length of Outcasts, I really didn't have too many opportunities to really reel in the lore very much. Rest assured, there is a big world outside the Mythrin Forest. It has a long history, varied locations, and many persons of interest.

I'd show you the map, but it is poorly drawn... like... poorly drawn - and might have some anthropology notes scribbled in where the Lightwater Strait should be.

But the sequel will draw much more of this into the open, and I'm pushing the story in a direction that will allow some more of it to stand out. I very rarely start a project like this and start making things up on the fly, and Outcasts was not one of them. I'm really into worldbuilding (former DM checking in), so Shiloft is out there - I promise!

Maps!

Like I said, I have maps all drawn up for parts of Shiloft, and my sister was completely willing to draw up a legitimate map for the release of Outcasts, but I declined. There was some question on how to actually implement it into the ebook, and I wasn't all that sure it was necessary for that particular story since the adventurers really only visited three-ish locations.

Going forward, I want to make sure a map (or maps) get made to be in line with my goal to really flesh out Shiloft for the potential reader.

--

These are a few things I'd like to accomplish, though I'm sure there will be more. There's even the possibility that I have a final title in place for the sequel, but I want to save that for when the story really gets going!

Also - and this blog may be hit with a few posts like this - I've been playing a lot of Lord of the Rings Online lately. It's not perfect, but it really scratched that MMO itch that I get every now and then. I've had a lot of fun so far. Here's a picture of the server celebrating Frodo and Bilbo's birthday on September 22nd.

That is all. xD


Saturday, September 21, 2013

Gettin' Started

So, for some reason, we've been watching a lot of films in class, so it's given me some downtime to think over the next book (possibly books!) in the Lore of the Reluctant series. I've already redone my story idea for the sequel to Outcasts, which has a tentative title, too, but I'd like to get things locked in and written before I start getting too excited. After all, Outcasts alone went through... like... three or four iterations before I settled on the final version.

The wheels are definitely turning!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Electric Boogaloo

Now that the Amazon promotion is over and done with, it's time to move on to the next phase!

...

Whatever that might be...

Well, I have a few options, actually. The first is to take the advice I hear R.A. Salvatore give new writers at most of his talks: Write. If you want to be a writer, the train never stops; you just keep moving... Okay, so that was a cliche metaphor. Not a great start.

As it goes with any profession, stagnation is your enemy. If you're a bartender, you don't make a drink and then check out for a few weeks to reflect on how it all went down. (Being a former bartender, I should know. I can hear the laugh my manager would let out after such a proposition.) If you're a bartender, you keep making drinks, you keep learning new drinks, you keep building up a tolerance to people who freak out when you don't have Red Bull to mix with their Ketel One.

If you're a writer, you keep writing.

That's the first option. I already have a solid story idea for a sequel to Outcasts, but obviously I want to see if the people who downloaded it got any kind of kick out of the novel. If it gets rejected outright, I'll probably swallow my pride and move on to something else. In which case, I have some other story ideas that would make for some great novels, I think. Definitely more fantasy, but also a few sci-fi concepts I've been playing with. It would be awesome to write any of them.

The second option would be to do some more research. I really pushed myself through the whole process of publishing an ebook just to see how it was done. So I could overcome a lot of my fears, learn the steps, and (finally!) have something I created out on the market in some form. It's been a hugely rewarding and fulfilling experience, but I still feel like there are a few road bumps I could iron out. The table of contents being a big one, as well as learning a bit more about the conversion options that Amazon and a few other places have available.

That would include another version through Barnes and Noble and a potential paperback edition for Outcasts through CreateSpace, but, again, I'd like to wait and see if the story is eventually embraced or rejected. Regardless, it would be great info for future stories, and launching with both an ebook and a paperback version might be the way to go!

We'll seeeeeeee.

Time for bed, in any case. Cultural Anthropology quiz tomorrow.

Yay...

Sunday, September 15, 2013

r/fantasy

So, I set up my free promotion through KDP last night and immediately posted a thread on the /r/fantasy subreddit. Great response. It's an oddball book that I'm pitching, and while it might not be everyone's cup of tea, /r/fantasy has always been really supportive to new authors. I've been lurking and posting for the better part of two years (with a different account), and they always seem to be really excited about helping out one of their own.

If you happen to be swinging by this way from /r/fantasy, thank you very much for the encouragement/support!

Also, just to throw this out there, if you're interested in the book, but aren't quite sure if it's your thing, I posted a short prequel to the story on Google Docs a while back that's still available.

You can find it HERE.

I think that's it! The book is still available for free, and should remain that way until Monday night at 11:59 PM (PST).

Thanks!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

So, Here's What I Learned!

I know it's been more than a few days since the date, but I was finally able to publish my first ebook!


http://amzn.com/B00F28A0JQ


Just to give a brief (and shameless) synopsis: it's a sword and sorcery novel about three adventurers who are originally from our world. They don't know how they got to this new realm, but they're not very thrilled to be there. As in any fantasy story, duty and glory are calling to our protagonists, but they really don't want to answer that call.

I've been pitching it as a cross between Forgotten Realms and Archer. If that sound like your thing, you should give it a try!


But anyway:


The whole process wasn't nearly as painless as I thought it would be. There are many things to be considered before you throw your ebook out there into the world for all to see. A lot of them can be overcome, some of them cannot. So, here are some of the things I learned.


1. Appropriate Formatting


According to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing), the preferred formats for directly uploading your manuscript are .doc, .html, or, if you have it, .mobi. Now, the first one is easy because, if you're writing using any of the word processors I listed, it's very likely you're already saving your manuscript in .doc format. So, no biggie, right?


Kinda.


The only major setback that comes with going that route, which I ran headlong into, is that you don't get a virtual table of contents. If you have a Kindle, it's that separate menu that you can access directly through the Kindle that has a list of the chapters, subchapters, etc. Mine had that in all of the test versions using .mobi, but it doesn't have that now.


Luckily, the table of contents that I built for the document works fine (here's a video on how to build one, but I might write up a post on it, as well), but it's always nice to be able to give your readers direct access to the sections of the book they want to get to. Otherwise, things get frustrating, and you don't want your reader to feel frustrated reading your ebook. When there's a step you can eliminate, it's always best to eliminate it.


The logical solution would be to upload in .mobi, so that it has that virtual table of contents. Unfortunately, the program that I've been using to preview and convert my .doc files, Calibre (which I highly recommend to anyone/everyone going into the self-pub business), seems to be at odds with KDP. When I tried to upload my .mobi file, I got an error message, which was a huge shame. After a bit of research, I found that this isn't the case 100% of the time. Some people use Calibre to convert their .doc file and upload it to KDP with no problems.


Something tells me it's the way I formatted the original .doc file that freaks out KDP, but I have no way of knowing without further research. But as it stands, I'd say that it's probably unlikely that you'll get your manuscript uploaded with anything other than .doc.


.html is a possibility, but I've found that the conversion from .doc to .html causes some problems with the formatting. Specifically: it adds an extra line between paragraphs, even when the document has them removed, which amounts to an ebook that looks a little odd. You'd have to preview it for yourself to see if you'd find the look agreeable, but I rarely see any ebooks that go that route format-wise.


2. Networking


- Goodreads Author Program
- Amazon Author Central
- Reddit Authors

I figured I'd have to be networking between a few websites, which is the main reason this blog exists, but there are also a couple other websites that'll require your attention, as well. Goodreads is the obvious one. The second you have your book up and running on Amazon, turn around and get your author's page from Goodreads. They're a great medium through which to promote your book, host giveaways, connect with your potential readers. Get your biography all written up, get a nice picture of yourself uploaded, and make sure your profile's connected to your book. (If your book doesn't pop up in their database, be prepared to manually add it to the site.)


Amazon Author Central is the not-so-obvious one (to me, at least). KDP doesn't point to it directly, and you have to go through a separate section of the site to find it. With this, you're basically doing the same thing you did through Goodreads, but through Amazon. Yeah. So, same process: biography, picture, connect to your book.

Reddit Authors is one that I've just discovered, but it's a nifty little site if you're a dedicated/obsessed redditor. There are a few restrictions. You have to have a Reddit account, for one, which goes without saying. You have to have at least 50 comment karma and been a member for at least 30 days. And... that's it! Just send them a message and they'll link up to your book.

Also, it's helpful if you list your website in your actual manuscript, just below where your copyright text should be. A great way to consolidate everything!

3. Promotion

The book is not going to sell itself! Go to your audience and to a bit of name-dropping. It's a fine line to walk between self-promotion and being a douchebag, and I've seen people walk it with the grace of drunken elephant. What I've learned is: be courteous! Hit up Reddit, hit any writing forums you're a part of, check out Facebook. Just don't force-feed it to people. If you're part of a community, continue being a part of the community and be honest about what you're selling. Don't be a part of the community purely to sell something.

I can tell when people do that. You can tell. Don't pretend otherwise.

Also, make use of the tools KDP provides. Set up a promotion for your book, and then get word out about that promotion!

4. DRM

This is something to think about when you're about to hit the "Publish" button. Someone in another forum made a good point, that, as a first time fiction author, it's very unrealistic to worry about DRM. If you're writing non-fiction, then it's a definite concern. Otherwise, you want your book to get out there as much as possible. You want your book to be passed around, shared, talked about. The first book is meant to act as a vessel to get your name out there. If you harbor any illusions about striking it rich on your first try, stop.

Stop it.

Humility is the greatest trait an author - especially a new author - can retain. And, hopefully, it's a trait he/she will retain throughout their career.

But, yeah, consider dropping the DRM.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Tools o' the Trade! (Word Processors)

Before you start writing your first story, you're going to require a means through which to channel your literary prowess. Obviously, for a lot of people, this isn't really a problem. Pretty much every computer on the market these days comes with some form of a word processor, usually in the form of a trial version of Microsoft Office. This isn't a bad thing, but I know first hand how much it sucks when that trial runs out, and you're suddenly in "read-only mode," stressing to find out if dropping all that money on a new license would be worth it.

A lot of people rely on their word processors - for work or school - and luckily there are a few fantastic alternatives that'll more than convince you to severe your ties with Microsoft's timebomb of an office suite.

1. LibreOffice (Official Download Link)

I didn't start out using LibreOffice. My transition came a little late in the game, within the last year or so from OpenOffice (which I'll get into shortly). For the uninitiated, LibreOffice is essentially a free version of Microsoft Office...

Yeah.

"But wait," I can hear you saying... if this is the first you've heard of it, that is, "there's no way that can be true. There has to be a catch."

Nope.

"It has to be a half-assed version of Microsoft Office. It probably runs like a cement mixer."

Nope, and nope.

"There are probably a ton of things LibreOffice can't do in comparison."

This is true... but there are also a ton of things LibreOffice can do that Microsoft Office can't.

"Dang."

Right? It sounds way, way too good to be true, but it very much is. LibreOffice is actually comparable to, if not better than, Microsoft Office in a lot of ways. It comes loaded with its own versions of Word, Powerpoint, and Excel, each of which runs just like their Microsoft-based counterparts, though without all of the aesthetical bells and whistles the newer versions of Office probably have. And the best part: a Word document created in LibreOffice can be opened in Microsoft Word, and vice versa. Same goes for the other programs.

If ye are still in doubt, here's a very helpful comparison chart showing what each suite has over the other. In my experience, the differences are negligible, but I really only use the word processor these days. Fewer and fewer classes are requiring any kind of Powerpoint or Excel spreadsheet out of me in recent semesters. Give it a try and see how it works for you! Really, you can't beat that price.

2. Apache OpenOffice (Official Download Link)

OpenOffice was the word processor that I used all the time before I switched over to LibreOffice. Again, it's absolutely free, open-source, and works great. Really, there is no big difference between the two, so it's really a matter of preference. I switched over to LibreOffice because it seems to run a bit better on my computer, and the company behind it is extremely passionate about the program. It has their full attention.

OpenOffice has changed hands a few times recently, and any updates are implemented much slower compared to LibreOffice. But, really, it's still a free word processor. I wouldn't take it over LibreOffice, but it's still miles better than Microsoft Office.

Here's a nice list of comparisons between LibreOffice and OpenOffice by a more educated user if you're at all interested.

3. Google Docs (Official Link)

I don't have a ton of experience with Google Docs, but what experience I do have has told me that it more than works in a pinch. If you have a Google account, you already have access to Docs - free of charge. As of the last time I tried it out, it's a browser-based program and saves your document in the cloud as you type. It doesn't have the level of detail that an office suite like LibreOffice or OpenOffice have, but it's more than capable of creating documents and presentation slides that you'll need for college or work.

Or for your book!

If you're going into ebooks, it won't have the tools you need, but otherwise, it's a great program that also (if I remember correctly) allows you to work offline and save your documents to your computer as .doc or .pdf or what-have-you.

~~

Those are the big three that I can think of, and that I've used to some extent. You can't really lose with any of them, though my personal preference is LibreOffice.

Hope that helps!

Intro!

So, here's where I'm at:

A few years ago, I was sitting around at my dad's house in the hills, taking poke shots at different writing projects I had going, when I randomly broke down and started writing a short story about three very terrible fantasy heroes. It's a story I had wanted to write for a long time in some form. I had been outlining characters and random plot elements for several months by then, but the character cast before that night I actually started writing had been somewhere around five, not three.

The amount of characters I would've had to juggle right off the bat had been largely what kept me from writing. I had wanted to wring a novel out of it, after all, and the process for introducing the characters alone would have represented a decent chunk of writing. And the biggest problem was: I just didn't like any of them very much. I couldn't imagine spending close to a year with these five guys and girls. Sometimes, I suppose, a writer just has to suck it up and write according to the big picture, but I didn't have that luxury.

The short story that resulted from that idea is what got me going, and the Realm of Shiloft was created out of that.

Yay.

Last year, I revisited those three characters - this rogue, wizard, and ranger - and cranked out another short story, getting to know them a little better in the process. (Both of these stories are available on my tumblr if you have any kind of interest!) By then, I loved these characters so much, I started up another story. It was just supposed to be 5000 words; I wanted it to be eligible for a contest at the time. But I just kept going, and right now I'm sitting on a novella that's nearly 50,000 words long, edited and ready to go. Within the next week or so, I'll be publishing it through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) service.

This whole process was something entirely new to me. I've written other novels in the past (when I didn't feel the need to line-edit my work after every chapter), but they never went anywhere after I was finished. My friends would read them, and I'd get plenty of feedback, but when it came to querying agents, I never had any luck. Mostly because of my arrogance at the time. There were some things I was never willing to compromise on, and I was very nervous about "selling myself."

But now we're living in an age where I can post a book up on a site like Amazon and cut the middleman out altogether. Now, this comes with some severe drawbacks, of course. Just because I publish something, doesn't mean it'll sell. And just because I worked hard on something, doesn't mean it'll be successful. Them's the breaks of independent publishing. You're a drop of water in a boundless ocean.

Still! It's not hopeless, certainly. There have been plenty of people who have been able to stand out and really get their stories out there, either by offering an introduction for free or really taking to social media to get word out. Hard to believe that such a large chunk of a bestseller like Wool is absolutely free, right? You'd think he'd want to capitalize on his success in any way he could. But that's how this deal works, and he absolutely made the right decision - and is still making it.

Now, I'm not up-to-date on everything, but this isn't my first finished work, so I have a little experience when it comes to these things: concerning both the Agent Route and the Self-publishing Route. I hope that my posts here will at least be informative, and I'll also be chronicling my own experience as I get ready to self-publish my first ebook. If I have helped in any little way, then this blog will not have been made in vain!

Also, I'm a pretty big fan of Star Wars, so stuff concerning that might pop up on here every now and then. I really can't help myself.

Enjoy!