78 Reasons...

78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published & 14 Reasons Why It Just Might

This book, written by Pat Walsh, does what it says on the tin, and I'm not going to review the book here! I just want to say (to Pat if he's reading) that I really enjoyed reading the book - yes, there's bluntness, but there's sneaky bits of humour too (yes, dear reader, I laughed out loud a couple of times). And, of course, there is much sound advice about getting your novel (or work of non-fiction) published.

So, to Pat: "Thanks. Your 78 Reasons book did not put me off. If anything, it encouraged me to keep on doing everything necessary so that I (eventually) become a published author."

Write A First Novel Blog (Updated!)

Well Blogger (beta) now lets you add labels to your posts, and so I have just spent the best part of the morning 'tarting up' the ol' blog, and adding labels to (or categorising) previous posts.

Yes, it's a great way to not-write today, but -- and I never like to do things the easy way (as you'll find out when you read my first novel) -- blogging about writing is part of my writer's experience right now and as such is as valid an activity as any other. Actually, I have always had a habit of writing about what I learn as I learn it, so I can then explain it to others (or myself), later. This blog is just the latest example.

By the way, should that be single dash or double dash, above, and should it be writer's or writers'?

212 Degrees

I came across this 'inspiring movie' via my email recently, and it reminded me of what's at stake when you try and do something new; i.e. write a first novel.

The Long Tail (of book publishing)

The Long Tail is Chris Anderson's impression of 'the new economics of culture and commerce', or 'how endless choice is creating unlimited demand'.

It's a very interesting read, but the reason I'm writing about it here is Chris* talks about self-publishing in the book or Self Publishing Without Shame. He mentions lulu.com, "a new breed of DIY publisher. For less than two hundred dollars, Lulu can not only turn your book into a paperback or hardcover and give it an ISBN number, but also ensure that it gets listed with online retailers. Once it's listed, the book will be available to an audience of millions and potentially side by side with Harry Potter, if the winds of the recommendation engine blow that way."

Heard it all before, you think.

Well consider that Chris states "In 2004, 950, 000 books out of the 1.2 million tracked by Nielsen BookScan [(i.e. proper books)] sold fewer than ninety-nine copies. Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies [and only] 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies." Then consider that the top five self-published books on Lulu have all sold between 5,000 and 50,000 copies. Then consider that authors earn eighty percent of profits, compared to 15 percent for "standard publishers".

Content creation is changing, and not just for writers. This affects film production, music production etc. It's all explained in The Long Tail.

So I highly recommend that all writers do the following:

1. Read Chris Anderson's book, The Long Tail (do a search on Amazon)
2. Learn more about lulu.com

Personally, it staggers me that published authors use the internet so poorly as a marketing vehicle. They often don't have websites and if they do, they're not interested in collecting email addresses offering sample chapters etc. Lulu.com is a great example of how the long tail is being exploited by some writers.

(*) Chris actually wrote The Long Tail based on corrections made to his writing, his thoughts, that were made on his blog over the period of a few months.

Arvon Objectives

I don't yet have a passion for writing, or reading, but I do like to order my thoughts and ideas and I do like to try and help others understand (helping myself in the process).

I write everyday, but not necessarily fiction. So here's a poem for you to read! (Yes, it's one I made earlier!) :-)

Me?

With or without
(Clap)
Do or not do
(Skip)
When or when not
(Jump)
You or not you
(Pause)

Me?

I will still be.

--

I have no manuscript for the tutors to proof, and I don't think I am that interested in learning more about how to write. I can write, that's not what I need to know (I feel).

Instead, I guess I am:

• seeking inspiration from fellow writers
  
• seeking motivation to write
  
• looking for a way to filter out the ideas; to decide which idea to go with now

Okay, maybe I am interested to learn a little bit more about writing dialogue. (Ironically, Kate Long gave a dialogue workshop on Friday afternoon but I couldn't attend it as I was busy panicking over my Friday night piece that I had to read out.)

Ultimately, writing is a great example of learning by doing.

Yes I want to learn more about how to write a novel but I think I am more interested in hearing about other writers' motivations, other writers' strengths and weaknesses.

Writing Resources: A Biographical Dictionary

At first glance, this biographical dictionary had no importance to me as a budding writer of fiction. I don't enjoy reading biographies -- don't ask me why -- and I certainly would not want to write someone's biography.

But then I thought a little bit more about the information presented; e.g. for David Beckham

These snapshots of people's lives make an excellent starting point for the following, in my opinion:

• A character profile (obviously)
• A story-line

Even David Beckham who, by most measures, is a very successful man, had his fair share of conflict and obstacles to overcome, some of which can be gleaned from his brief bio.

I suggest (and I'm talking to myself here) doing a random search and seeing what you find.

'How To' Reading List

In no particular order, and books found doing whilst searching on Amazon UK:

• How To Write A Damn Good Novel, by James N. Frey
  
• How To Write & Sell Your First Novel, by Oscar Collier with Frances Spatz Leighton
  
• The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them) by Jack M. Bickham

I also read an ebook called: How To Write A Book, Quickly by Nick Daws.

And I read The Internet: A Writer's Guide, by Jane Dorner. But I know about the internet, and I know that writing books about the internet usually doesn't work, as they get out of date far too quickly. So I don't recommend this book.

When it comes to the 'how to write a novel' books listed above, now that's a different story (apologies).

Strangely, even though they were all written by different authors with very different styles, and different emphases on the art of writing, all the books above were useful. I recommend them all, particularly if you don't want your novel to be a masterpiece. (I also recommend Nick Daws ebook, simply because I only need to commit 28 days to the process, and it contained lots and lots of smart short-cuts to the process of writing and generating ideas.)

Agreed, I haven't written a novel yet. But when I do, I will base my efforts on what I learned from these books, especially Nick Daws ebook.

As for the benefits of reading 'how to' books, again you can learn by doing, or you can learn by 'reading about doing'. I usually choose the latter option every time, but can see the value in the 'learn by doing' method too. Because, ultimately, writing is doing.

Blogs

I did write a little today, on my other blog, but I spent most of this 'writing day' reading newsletters or other people's blogs.

There really is a lot of online writing going on.

And quite a lot of it is good.

I still maintain a written journal (or what I call a diary), however, and that is where my next words are destined.

Not about writing per se...

This tip is not actually about writing, or 'how to write a novel' or my attempts to write a novel, but it will help *if* you can see the benefits of having a blog to write about / promote your novel (like I do).

Okay, I don't know that much about blogging and that's why I recently subscribed to Copyblogger: to learn how to get the most from my blog.

And Brian of CopyBlogger did not disappoint with his excellent Do You Make These Mistakes With Your Blog posting today, which led me to read the also useful Four Simple Steps To Get More Subscribers

What's this got to do with writing?

Well, everything, if you want people to read what you've written!

Blogging is a form of marketing (see my post Writing and Internet Marketing ); a form of cheap marketing that you can do yourself; a form of marketing that can bring you in direct contact with your readers (or potential readers).

But if that argument doesn't penetrate, it's also writing.

Writing and Internet Marketing

My recent background is internet marketing; i.e. my business revolves around building promoting and profiting from websites. (So much so I built a website all about building, promoting and profiting from your website!)

This means that I have a good understanding of what a website should look like to sell, whether it's selling to site visitors or it's selling to search engines like Google.

But I'm new to book-writing. (I'm definitely not an author; I don't even write that often.) It is still clear to me that writing is not being sold very well via the medium of the internet. I don't see sample chapters, I don't see mailings lists, I don't see compelling websites that let you get to know your favourite author.

I see amateur websites, produced by professional writers!

I see opportunity.

As with all opportunities, some have recognised it already.

And that's the purpose of this posting to highlight a particular mailing list that looks like it covers writing and marketing. It's written by Randy Ingermanson of Advanced Fiction Writing

I say 'looks like' as I've only just read my first issue, but I can already tell that Randy "gets the web".

Don't worry, Randy "gets writing" even more.

If you take a look at Randy's website, you will also learn a lot about creating a professional-looking website that is easy to use, and has a few set objectives (I think he might want you to subscribe to his mailing list, for example. Why would that be, do you think?).

The site avoids making many amateur mistakes. It's a site I'd be proud to have created, actually, and I don't say that too often especially regarding writers' websites.

I have emailed Randy about this post, and hopefully -- hint, hint, Randy! -- he might make a comment if I've misrepresented what Advanced Fiction Writing is all about.

Writers' Blog

What a great idea!
- Writers' Blog

I wish I'd thought of it.

I shall return to read about Amy, Charlie and Nicki's writing experiences soon.

Until then, let me plough through more Writers Bureau emails (how I discovered the Writers' Blog in the first place)...

"Useful Sites For Writers"

I just read the snippet below from E-Zee Writer - see I'm still ploughing through un-read writing-related material, both electronic and hard-copy - and thought it would make a quick blog entry!

"You may find this site incredibly useful for re-directing you out of a writer's dead-end. Or you may just find it an entertaining way to pass an hour when you really should be getting some serious writing done! Either way, it's a good site to bookmark. www.rhymezone.com
On a similar note, Phrase Thesaurus is an, 'online phrase thesaurus. Enter a word and it will generate a list of phrases and sayings related to that word – often including interesting selections that you may not have anticipated.' This is a paid-for service but there is an online demo to give you an idea of what you can expect from the service."

- Taken from November 2005 edition of E-Zee Writer (I am an inactive student of The Writers Bureau)

Writing Blogs...

As I read my E-zee Writer ezines I come across some excellent online writing resources. I've subscribed to a few new ezines (I prefer the word newsletter to ezine, actually) and will consider adding this blog to the mixed bag of random ramblings found at this writers' blogging forum

More links to come soon, I'm sure.

Reading List

This is my current reading list (see below).

It changed, recently, when I realised that the novels I was reading were not the types of novels I wanted to write. So, out goes Mike Gayle (His n Hers, My Perfect Girlfriend, Mr Commitment) and in comes this far more literate and impressive list of novels:

• Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
• Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (I haven't read this yet, but I know it will be what I call a good book.)
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (reading this right now)

Other novels that I've bought but may well consign to the Mike Gayle Slush Pile include:

• A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
• Inconceivable by Ben Elton
• Whatever Love Means by David Baddiel (I've met David once. Well, I didn't meet him but he used to hang out in a pokey 'night-club' in Bristol called The Tropic, at the same time I did.)

By the way, I hope you realise that to be a writer you should be a reader, an avid reader.

And this is where I am tempted to veer into 'how to write a novel' mode, but when I have not written a novel and so am therefore not an expert on writing a novel, I feel it would be, to say the least, in appropriate.

I shall include excerpts from the various 'how to' books that I think are relevant and helpful to me.

The above is the first excerpt, that everyone advocates: want to write, then read!

So why the above reading list?

I'm interested in the themes of communication, commitment, fear so you can see why Mike Gayle appealed to me. I must say, however, that whilst I enjoyed Mike's books and think he is an able writer, I also found them to be lacking depth. As was the case with Bridget Jones' Diary (Mike is meant to be the male Bridget Jones, which realy doesn't make sense!)

But more than those themes, I prefer to read books that challenge my mind or provoke me in some way, or books that are written from a clever perspective, or books that are just damn good!

Hence the new list, above.

If I'm going to write one novel I might as well model my efforts on the best rather than just the saleable! No?

I was also going to read Man and Boy by Tony Parsons, but I just couldn't face it (don't know why! Maybe it's because I love the barbed words of his ex- too much).

I tried Andrew Collins' Where Did It All Go Right?, and whilst I appreciate his attempt at revisiting his own happy 70s and 80s from a happy perspective, I found it at best smug and at worst very very put-downabble. (Add it to the list of did not finish books that include Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Zadie Smith's White Teeth, and Umberto Eco's turgid Foucault's Pendulum. Yes, I plead guilty.)