Self Publishing...

Taken from Grifter Books

As a nobody, and i use the term factually, i think a lot about how i could get my works published. I could do the main stream thing and send a transcript to a publisher, who will no doubt cut it to shreds or edit it, which isn't all bad, but it'll be a long time before it's actually released, then i'd need an agent, right? I hate having people between me and those handling my stuff. 

Then there is self publishing, using Amazon i can publish my works myself as an eBook for Kindle, also there is the iTunes iBooks thing as well. But of course i have no advertising except my social networks, Twitter, Google+, and Facebook but i don't have that many people following me, word of mouth would then be my best friend, hoping that those that do read it, like it enough to tell their friends and share on their social networks too. But even then i think i'd see a slow start, then a few days of buying, then nothing.

Of course i'm already prepared for that, and giving away a few chapters for free would help i think, but also, i need to write GOOD stuff, so that when i release a new eBook, those that read the first want to read the next and buy the newest when it's out. Using social networks to advertise that it's in the works, being written, artwork is being done, then all the booky stuff, dedication, acknowledgements, previous works etc etc etc... than that it's out on the something something as an eBook on Amazon. Then on release day, post everywhere, and ask for likes, +1's and shares from everyone who follows me, to get the word out.

With Amazon and iTunes, i think, self publishing would mean i get 70% of sales, which isn't bad, really. If i price the books at £1.43, i'd get, as near as makes no difference, a £1 per sale. If i sell 1000 books, i'd make £1000. Awesom-O. I like numbers to be as clean as possible. And £2.86 would mean i get £2 per sale. And about £4.30 would get me £3.

For book of 350 pages are less, i'd sell for £2.86. Book with 351 pages or more £4.30. And if i do a special offer or sale i'd sell at £1.43 or free.

Also, something else i've been thinking about is short stories. If a put them all together in a collective works of no more than 200 pages, with artwork illustrations and such i would put them out there for free, as they will most likely be here in this blog anyway, why would i then ask people to pay for them when they can just come here and read them, free, when ever they want. At least in an eBook they get art work. I'm also preparing to continue writing the "Corridors of my Subconscious" series, i've written 3 of XX and once they are all done and the series is finished, i can do the same, put them all together, in order, and give it away.

Here's hoping i can write gooder.

New Job interview...

So today i received a call and an eMail for a job interview on Monday morning.

I'm not going to mention the name of the company i'm interviewing for or the name of the people i'll be seeing, i'll also not be adding them as tags below. 'Cause i did that once and lost a job, even though i did say anything derogatory, in fact i was very happy to have finally found a job.

Right so, i'll write about the interview and if i get the job great but you'll not hear anything about it, or i could just lie about it. But then if it's found by my new employer they might think it's true and that i have a second job....

Right then i'll just shut up about it all and not say anything online.

Also i have to shave today, right when i was getting used to the beard.

Slow days [TOD]

So today i started writing chapter 6 of 'The Orion Directive' [TOD] which was supposed to be different, but i realised that the sixth chapter as i'd set it out wasn't needed so i just replaced it with seven. 

It started out okay, not particularly quick, but i was moving forward, then after a few pages things kind staled on me, and i came to a complete halt, not writers block, i just could move forward, so i basically stopped dead and saved my work and turned off the word processor, so i could jus think about it for a bit. About an hour later i opened it up again and continued to write, but again it was slow moving, and i also came to the realisation that i didn't really like what i was writing.

Of course i know that a first draft is supposed to be shit, you can't write a master piece first time, and with my experience with chapter one, which i've already rewritten twice, i know that once i revisit chapter six i can make it better. Right now i'm kind of plotting my route through the haze of a yet to be discovered story, of which i do have a basic idea of, but the real meet comes out as i'm writing it, so i don't actually know what i'm doing until i'm doing it, which i guess is how many, if not all, writes do it, right?

The idea being that, once i have the chapter written and have an idea of what's in this chapter, the people the places the things that happen i can then think more about it and when i revisit it later, i'll have a better idea of what's going to happen and can rewrite it all knowing where i'm heading. It's like walking in a forest with a bucket over your head, you can only see the ground that's directly beneath your feet, you have no idea where you are or where your going, or what's to come. But once you've made that journey and have a basic idea of what to expect, you can take off the bucket and walk the route again with all your senses firing, being able to see not only the route you took earlier, but move, and now you know the route you can think more about being descriptive and extending that attention to detail that you missed the first time. And the more you walk that route, the more you learn about it and the more you see.

Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite, Rewrite, as they say is how books are written.

What i tend to do and what i expect to do with chapter six at some point, is day dream about it, i put myself in the shoes of the main character and imagine everything, every detail, the sights, the amount of day light or lack there of, the smells the sounds, the hotel room, the stairs, the hotel lobby the street outside the cab what it looks like and how it smells inside, the route taken what he sees and hears, the street he's dropped off on the walk to the next location etc etc etc, i'll do this, usually before i go to bed, as my pre-sleep routine is relaxing to me.

Computer off, Tele off, make bed, have a pee, turn on fan (I need the noise of the fan, white noise, to filter out all others noises, or i find it hard to sleep) so hearing the fan noise relaxes me, it's like my brain hears the fan and thinks that i'm now going to bed, so it prepares for that. I remember once i was on a plane, sitting right over a wing, and the noise of the engine put me to sleep, best flight ever. But what always happens, and i'm sure it'll happen tonight, is that my brain goes into overdrive, i'm relaxed left to my thoughts with zero distractions, i start to think about my story, especially parts i've already written, and i start to visualise it. That's when i start to get a real feel for the environment the character is in and that helps me write more descriptive.

I love the creative process, it's not something that just happens once you sitting in front of your computer, but rather it's always happening, while your eating breakfast, waiting for a bus, sitting on that bus, it's always happening, it starts when you wake up and stops once you've passed out, the really lucky once continue in their sleep.

I love it.

More to me...

I have too other blogs here on Blogger, do you know that? No, let me enlighten you then.

First i have a blog for Grifter Films HERE, which is where i post about any and all film project i have in the works, i guess it'll mostly be about short films rather than features, but i'll still hold out that one day i shall make a feature.

Second, i just started a new blog for Grifter Books HERE, this is where i'll be posting about any and all writings, books, short stories, flash fiction and the like.

Now, i'll be posting everything here too, i just wanted a dedicated location to put film and book stuff so it's not all cluttered here, and so i'd have a separate place for them besides here.

What year is it again...?

So that time is upon us again, that time when we make up a bunch of tasks that we think are reasonable goals to reach for over the next 366 days (2012 is a leap year).

How many time have i made up a bunch of crap, like get fit, get health, enjoy life and take a dump but once a day. Bullocks to making shit resolutions that i'm never going to keep, fuck that, i'll just make three this year;

1, To read more.

2, To write more.

3, To do less of the things that distract me from 1 and 2.

That's it.

Actually i could add one more to that;

4, Make lots of money by being selfish.

So that's it.