Tag Archives: writer’s life

On Shameless Self-Promotion

This may or not not be an artist’s depiction of one of my book signings. šŸ˜›

Iā€™ve made it no secret no secret that Iā€™m a shameless self-promoter. In fact, it could be argued that I sometimes flaunt it. However, this week I had two interesting thoughts related to that this week. Well, more like one thought and one realization.

First, my self-promotion got me in a bit of trouble. I shared my latest blog in a Facebook group Iā€™m in, and not one but two admins messaged me after deleting my post telling me not to do that since the group had a rule against self-promotion posts (because otherwise the members would be bombarding the group with them). It wasnā€™t the first time this had happened. Admittedly, it was kinda my fault since Iā€™d forgotten about that rule.

One admin asked me why I promoted myself. ā€œIā€™m a writer,ā€ I replied. ā€œItā€™s what I do.ā€ She said she wrote haikus but didnā€™t go around saying, ā€œLook at me! Look at me!ā€ I had to fight the urge to start an argument.

ā€œWhy?ā€ you ask. Because the difference between me and this admin isā€”at the risk of sounding rudeā€”Iā€™m a professional and sheā€™s a hobbyist (as far as I know). I donā€™t know if she has a blog where she posts her haikus, but if sheā€™s okay with only a few people reading her stuff, thatā€™s fine. I, on the other hand, want to grow an audience because writing is my trade and vocation. If I am to be (more) successful, I must get people to read my stuff. I figured that since Iā€™d built a community in this Facebook group, thatā€™d be a great place to generate interest. Apparently not. I understand why they have the rule, but I didnā€™t like the attitude I was getting from the admin. However, I can forgive it because she may not understand where Iā€™m coming from. I know promotion can come across as arrogantā€”just look at Donald Trump (yes, I went there)ā€”but itā€™s necessary in my line of work. If you have the right attitude, though, it can work. It may seem paradoxical that self-promotion and humility can go together, but I do believe itā€™s possible.

Ironically, I learned that even I have limits on my self-promotion, which brings me to my second thought. I realized that when Iā€™m trying to get people interested in books (or anything I make/do), Iā€™m filled with passionate adamancy. Iā€™m a one-man hype machine. But when people come back to me and say they loved my stuff, I almost want to refuse their praise. Butā€¦I have friends who are more talented and/or successful than me! I think.

Yeah, Iā€™m weird.

Iā€™m not 100-percent sure why I think like this. It might be because I feel like Iā€™m the lesser of my peers. Iā€™m in awe of their talent and think theyā€™re more deserving of peopleā€™s attention and adoration. Or I think that if I was as talented and/or savvy as my more successful peers, then Iā€™d deserve the praise. In other words, I see a disconnection. Does that make sense?

What do you think, True Believers? Do you have similar struggles? How do you deal with these thoughts?

Leap Day Blog: Itā€™s Not Easy, Being a Dreamer

Yes, I promised Iā€™d post two blogs Thursday. I didnā€™t get around to the second. I felt bad. Then I realized Monday was Leap Day. I couldnā€™t miss a chance to post something on a day that only comes once every four years. So, hereā€™s the bonus blog. šŸ˜›

Anywayā€¦

Iā€™m a dreamer living in a world that seems hostile toward such people. Iā€™m not the only one, though. Iā€™ve heard many stories about artists (though dreamers can also be scientists and missionaries, etc.) in particular who grew up in blue collar families/communities and were discouraged from pursuing their passions. ā€œGet a real job!ā€ theyā€™d be told. They didnā€™t understand the dreamersā€™ aspirations, their desire to do extraordinary things. No, these naysayers knew only of clocking in and out at their easily understood and quantifiable jobs and bringing home a paycheck.

I donā€™t say this to demean blue collar (or white collar) types. In fact, I admire their work ethic and down-to-earth attitudes. Many, if not most, are full of common sense and free of the delusions that pervade certain demographics of society.

However, oftentimes they are so down-to-earth, they canā€™t understand people who, for lack of a better term, has their heads in the clouds. Actors, writers, and directors, to name a few, often came from families like this who, at best, tolerated their kidsā€™ unusual interests or, at worst, tried to force them into the ā€œnormalā€ mold. This was usually done with good intentionsā€”wanting to make sure their kids could provide for themselvesā€”but it came at the expense of crushing their childrenā€™s souls. It was a forced denial of who they were. It made the dreamers live while dying inside.

I know this from experience. My father has a blue collar mentality. When I said I wanted to go to college to study writing, he was supportive. He even helped pay for it. But then a couple years ago, he revealed to me that when I made that decision, he thought I was crazy. He didnā€™t think I could make it as a writer. I was flabbergasted, disappointed, angry. This was the man who, just a few years before, read my first novel, Pandoraā€™s Box, and liked it; who read my newspaper articles and thought I was an ideal journalist because I didnā€™t put any biased spin in them. It was, to say the least, a bit of a blow, especially since I was (and am) a struggling artist.

My theory is people like this donā€™t understand dreamers for two reasons: 1) The dreamerā€™s path to success is more abstract, less direct, and less certain, and 2) the dreamerā€™s aspirations and goals are too ā€œpie-in-the-sky.ā€ Going to a factory or office and putting in oneā€™s eight-hour shift is simple and direct. The most such workers have to think about is perhaps moving up in the company and/or getting a raise. Dreamers have to take risks and think outside the box. Someone who aspires to start a nonprofit to, say, help inner city kids has to do fundraisers. Writers have to submit stories to publishers and agents. Actors have to attend auditions. In all these cases, thereā€™s no guarantee of success, and initial success doesnā€™t always guarantee ongoing success. They donā€™t get paid a salary or an hourly wage. The closest equivalent are independent contractors. Itā€™s also usually a slow, gradual process to becoming ā€œsuccessfulā€ for the dreamer. This is why most, including myself, hold down ā€œday jobsā€ until they reach a point where they earn a living doing their ā€œunorthodoxā€ dream jobs. These arenā€™t usually the most glamorous or high-paying of day jobs, which doesnā€™t reflect well on the dreamers. (Iā€™ve heard many stories of now-famous actors who worked at restaurants until they became successful).

Dreamers walk difficult roads, but if they stick it out, the results not only include a satisfying career for them, but changed lives for many others. Nonprofit organizations save lives. Writers and artists entertain and, most importantly, enlighten audiences with their art (if done right). Actors can do the same. The notoriety they gain through these can give them platforms from which they can do other great works.

This is why Iā€™m a dreamer. This is why I support dreamers.

If youā€™re a dreamer, donā€™t give up!

If you know dreamers, I hope you will encourage them.

Are you a dreamer? If so, what are your ā€œloftyā€ aspirations?

I Should Be Writing, Not Blogging!

Itā€™s been one of those days. Or weeks. Or months.

Not only have I let my writing projects pile up higher than the stack of comics I needed to buy at my local shop (itā€™s what happens when you neglect to pick them up for two months), but somehow everyone and his dogā€™s cousin is vying for my attention. I have friends who want to hang out just because, for their birthdays, etc. I sometimes run errands for my family or spend time with them. I have my increasingly demanding ā€œday job.ā€ I have hobbies I try to enjoy now and then.

All of this is eating into my precious writing time. I havenā€™t penned a word in the next Children of the Wells novella in a month, nor have I touched Hopeā€™s War for a long time. My last Examiner article was in December. Yet here I am firing off a quick little blog because I resolved to be more consistent with posting content on my website. Blogging should be secondary to all my other writings.

Iā€™ve heard that a writer should never blog about how he hasnā€™t been writing much. I broke that ā€œruleā€ a long time ago, unfortunately. Besides, I hope I can use it as a lesson for aspiring writers.

Learn to say, ā€œNo.ā€

Itā€™s totally okay to do that.

Youā€™re only one person. You canā€™t do everything. If you want to be successful at anythingā€”especially writingā€”it will take sacrifice. Youā€™ll have to turn down many things, even good things, so that you can squeeze in that daily goal of 1,000 words or whatnot. Youā€™ll probably upset some people, but the ones who love you most will understand. In fact, they may eventually adjust their expectations and schedules to better accommodate your goals.

Iā€™m not sure how I became as ā€œpopularā€ as I am. I do, however, know that what I do with my time is my choice. I have no one to blame but myself if I miss a deadline or donā€™t get something done. I have an active mind that seeks as many creative outlets as possible. Iā€™m also a bit of a weird writer in that Iā€™m extroverted and have to come out of my writer-ly solitude to be with others. All of those things together can create a lot of tension. What am I saying? I know it does because Iā€™m experiencing it right now!

Thatā€™s why saying, ā€œNo,ā€ is an important skill to have. You canā€™t please everyone, no matter how hard you try. You have to learn to make priorities and stick to them. Otherwise, youā€™ll lose your mind. Iā€™m sure most loony bins have wards set aside for writers and other creatives who went crazy. Youā€™ll have plenty of collaborators and time to write, but I doubt anyone will publish you. šŸ˜›

Anyway, I have places to go, stuff to do, people to kill. (Waitā€¦did I say that out loud?)

Setting Boundaries (or, ā€œThe Line Must Be Drawn Here!ā€)

Remember that classic Picard speech from Star Trek: First Contact? Lately, Iā€™ve found myself quoting its most famous line:

Except it’s supposed to be “farther.” That was the actual line and proper usage. (Yes, I’m a grammar Nazi). Silly meme. šŸ˜›

Why? Because Iā€™ve realized I need to set boundaries for myself. No, Iā€™m not talking about ways to keep people from touching me or whatnot. This has to do with time management, something Iā€™ve written about here in many past blogs.
The problem I have is I tend to take on as many projects as possible. Some of them, like my YouTube show, are self-imposed. Others I volunteer for impulsively. For example, my editor at GigaGeek Magazine said she got an advance copy for a hardback book collecting reprints of early Superman comics and wanted someone to write a review. I jumped at it despite 1) already trying to make a video with a fellow Giga writer (which still isnā€™t done); 2) attempting to write at least two reviews a week for Examiner.com (which Iā€™ve been lax on); 3) writing a new novella for Children of the Wells (which I wanted to do as a mini-NaNoWriMo); 4) writing the sequel to Pandoraā€™s Box (which I havenā€™t touched in months); 5) going to book signings (which Iā€™m thankfully done with for the rest of 2015); 6) working a part-time day job that feels like a full-time job; and 7) trying to spend time with family and friends. Among other things.

Phew!
I think I might be something of a workaholic overachieverā€”except Iā€™ve let my attention get so divided, I havenā€™t made much progress on many of my projects. Heck, I havenā€™t blogged in nearly a month despite the fact that I promised myself Iā€™d post one each Tuesday and/or Thursday each week. I used to be crazy-good (for the most part) at time management back in college. I had set routines and rituals. I knew how long each assignment would take me. But I was just concerned with getting good grades, not making a living. On the other hand, not everything I do to make money I enjoy, so I look for avenues through which to be creative and/or promote myself (hence my YouTube channel).

The worst part of being an independent author is most, if not all, of the promotion I have to do myself. I canā€™t just sit down and write all day while a marketing department makes me famous. I really, really wish I could most days. Then I could feel like what I do in my free timeā€”i.e. my social life, etc.ā€”didnā€™t have to compete with everything else I do. At least, thatā€™s what Iā€™d like to think would happen.

Being that I have a very practical/pragmatic father and graduated college shortly before the ā€œGreat Recession,ā€ I picked up this habit of taking whatever opportunity I could get and not wasting it. Subsequently, I developed a desire to try new things to get myself out of a subpar situation (again, hence my YouTube channel) because it seemed like traditional methods werenā€™t working. Itā€™s a weird combination of what seems like diametrically opposed mentalities. (Have I ever mentioned that human beings are weird, and I tend to be weirder than most?) šŸ˜›

With 2016 approaching, itā€™s time to make some changes. Iā€™m not sure what all of those will be, but I do know that itā€™ll involve saying, ā€œNo,ā€ to some things Iā€™ve been saying, ā€œYes,ā€ to, and vise versa.

More on that as it develops.

I Can Do Everything! (or, ā€œMan, I Need to Hire a Secretary!ā€)

Being an indie author sometimes makes me wish I was Shiva. šŸ˜›

As Iā€™ve stated before, Iā€™ve been negligent on blogging for the last month. It wasnā€™t just this blog that suffered, though. Most, if not all, of my other projects were put on hiatus so I could finish editing my two latest books, 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom and Ninjas and Talking Trees, in time for Gen-Con 2015 next week. But it was only one of the many things I had to do.

One of the perils of being a self-published author (as I think I mentioned in an early episode of ā€œBut I Digressā€¦ā€) is you have to do everything, or at least almost everything, yourself. Your work doesnā€™t stop with writing the book and making recommended changes. You have to become an entire publishing house. You write, you edit, you hire cover artists (assuming you donā€™t create the cover yourself), you do layout, you promote the book, etc., etc. Unless youā€™re an excellent project manager, this can be tiring, especially when you also work a day job and have a social life. In the last month, Iā€™ve found myself thinking many times, I just want to write! I understand now why some authors forego self-publishing, despite its advantages, in favor of traditional publishing: they have much less to worry about. Their attention isnā€™t nearly as divided, so they can focus more on their craft.

Strange (or selfish) as it may sound, one of the reasons I want to get married is because Iā€™d like to have a wife who could help me with some of this. Yes, I admit it: Iā€™d like her to be my secretary. Hereā€™s the thing: she wouldnā€™t be my subservient, but my partner. Weā€™d work on things together as equals.

Regardless, I already practice this to some extent. I hired friends/professional editors to look over these books so it wasnā€™t just me. Fresh eyes can see things I donā€™t. The artist who created the cover for 42, Ruth Pike, also did the back cover and some promotional materials. My friend Nick Hayden then did the layout. Anthony Gangemi drew the artwork for Ninjas and Talking Trees, which required a bit of faith on my part because it was the most expensive cover Iā€™ve commissioned. I was thinking back on a self-publishing seminar where the instructor insisted authors should invest money in our careers. But I had to add the text and do the layout myself because Nick was unavailable. Then I had to wait for CreateSpace to process everything. (Thankfully, their shipping department is awesome, and my orders arrived four or five days early).

Let this be a warning to you: if you want to be an indie author, expect to put in extra work.

Itā€™s worth it, though. šŸ˜‰

P.S. Please leave reviews for my books on Amazon and Goodreads!

Writing is More Than Writing

Many people think writers spend all their time sitting at their computers typing away, filling page after page with their thoughts, feelings, and stories.

As Lex Luthor once said, ā€œWROOOOOOOONG!ā€

Anyone can jot down their daily thoughts and activities. Thatā€™s what a journal is. Iā€™ve known many people whoā€™ve written short stories or even whole books that remain unpublished. Plenty of ā€œnon-writersā€ participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) every year just to take on the challenge.

No, there is much more to writing. And honestly, I feel like thatā€™s the part that eats up more of my ā€œwriting timeā€ than actual writing. Writers have to promote their work, often on their own. They search for literary agents and query them. They research publishers and submit work to them, which requires writing query letters, among other things. Networking is a huge facet of writing, so writers must stay in touch with those they know in the industry, always looking for new opportunities.

In other words, writing isnā€™t just a craft. Itā€™s a business.

A profitable business.

A needed business.

An annoying business.

While Iā€™m a writer and a shameless self-promoter, I find the business side of writing frustrating. Marketing is difficult in this age of bad economics and constant noise. Iā€™ve run into several walls along the way: 1) (Perceived) Inexperience. 2) Being told my stories arenā€™t ā€œtrendyā€ enough (Iā€™d rather be a trend-setter). 3) I donā€™t have an agent. Agents and publishers want material that they think will sell. They want to make money. I have no problem with that. But I think the bad economy has made them less interested in taking risks on something and/or someone new. Thatā€™s why, for instance, you saw lots of vampire novels in the young adult section of bookstores and hordes of zombies popping up in the sci-fi section. Those are ā€œhotā€ now. My stories, though I think theyā€™re good, donā€™t seem to necessarily fit the trends.

Even if one gets past those walls, new ones crop up. Depending on the size of your publisher, your (perceived) marketability, and the current economy, publishersā€™ may or may not be able or willing to invest the money in promoting your work. This means youā€™ll have to do much of it yourself. In this age of the Internet, the possibilities for promotion are nearly endless. But itā€™s also saturated the world with noise. Ads flare up on every website. Countless authors are starting blogs, going on blog tours, and appearing on podcasts. While many people ā€œliveā€ on the Internet and read webfiction, thereā€™s so much of it out there, itā€™s overwhelming. If you want to get noticed, you must first have a quality product. The cream will always rise to the top. You must also distinguish yourself from all the other voices shouting in everyoneā€™s ears. Either that or yell louder. Personally, I think the former is more pleasant. But what makes the Internet work to your advantage is word-of-mouth. Thatā€™s always sold anythingā€”especially booksā€”better than anything else.

I think Iā€™m rambling a bit now. šŸ˜›

All this to say that while I wish I could just write all the time and instantly have it read by millions, thatā€™s not the case. Writing is a craft and a business. If you want to be a writer, you have to deal with both aspects, whether you enjoy everything about them or not.

But as Michael Stackpole said at Gen-Con, ā€œNow is the best time to be a writer.ā€