Read, Revise, Read Again

 This Week's Topic: My Revision Process

Though Jeffe and I have different methods of drafting, my revision process is pretty much the same as hers (which you can read here). 

Since beginnings are the hardest part of the book for me, I have a lot to clean up in the first arc after I've completed the first draft. That includes ensuring I have concise statements of initial GMC and evolving milestone GMC as the story progresses. I cut info dumps back to the minimum the reader needs to know to progress to the next scene. As Jeffe mentioned, there's also the matter of ensuring proper seeding and foreshadowing.

As part of the character development review, I focus on whether I have sufficiently conveyed what the character(s) is feeling since that's a consistent weakness my editor has called out over the course of eight books. I love writing action scenes but I tend to gloss over the emotional risk, cost, and consequences during drafting. Thus, during revisions I have to make sure I've answered those big Emo questions for each transformative scene. 

For the final readthrough, I have the computer read the book back to me instead of reading it aloud myself because my brain will autofill stuff that's not there and autocorrect words that need to be corrected on the page. It's the low-stress last step of edits/revisions for me. I kick back in my recliner, click "Read Aloud," and close my eyes...and then open them at the first wince. It's funny and a little tragic how many glitches still survive what I deemed the (almost) publishable version.

Series: Is It Done Yet?

 This Week's Topic: Series--How Do I Know When One Has Played Out?

To know when a series has gone stale, it helps to understand what makes a series compelling in the first place. Writing a series that readers want to stay with comes down to two things: a) knowing the series's story arc--which is different from the individual book arcs--before penning the first book, and b) how many books it'll take to tell the series's story. Yes, the author should know from the get-go how many wedges they're trying to carve out of one pie complete tale. Each book serves as a plot point of the series. The series plot often runs as the secondary plot of the book; for the sake of pacing and focus, it never dominates the main plot of the book. The series is done once the overarching story is complete.

For example: A classic story structure is three Acts in one book. Trilogies are three Acts told over three books. One could argue a trilogy is a nine-Act story where the pinch-points are the equivalent of the climaxes of the first two books.

Yes, yes there are popular series for which there is no series story arc. Those series are--for all intents and purposes--stand-alone books (self-contained stories) with a repeating protagonist. There is minimal character and world development from book to book, which allows a reader to jump into the series at any point. 

Now, to the question of the week: How to know when a series has played out? The most obvious one is when the series story is complete...yet it won't end. Instead of writing a new series, the same cast appears on a wholly different quest. This can work quite well--as long as it's clear in the branding-- until the majority of the cast has developed into OPs (Overpowered Players), the stakes have risen beyond the fantastical, and the plots have no place else to go but into the absurd. 

Rattling off TV shows that Jumped the Shark is arguably easier than naming shows that were canceled too soon (aka before the series story was resolved). 

Another way to tell when a series is played out is when books within the series are long tangents that do not support the series story--it's being milked. When done a handful of times (or less) as clearly labeled side-stories, the readers understand those books are fan service (stories written purely for the appreciation of the fans {fan services is often smuttier than the original, too brow waggle}). The readers typically love it as long as the side-stories don't delay the conclusion of the initial series storyline, which is why these stories are best released after the conclusion of the series or as a seasonal/holiday bonus. But when the author tries to trick the reader into buying books unrelated to the series plot, then what an author gets is pissed off fans. 

Series that run-on too long tend to happen because of fear. Fear from the author that they won't be able to reproduce the "magic" that made that series successful. Fear from the publisher (who may also be the author) that their sales will plummet, thus their revenue will plummet, once the series ends. Nobody wants to end a good thing, but even the best cake rots when kept too long. 

ROI Ouch

This Week's Topic:  Worst ROI Ever 

The list of low/bad Returns on Investment (ROI) in which I've engaged is long. Whether the returns I'm measuring are cash or brand awareness, there have been some painfully wasteful lessons learned. In some instances, the investment of time far exceeded the returns (hello, social media, looking at you). In others, the hundreds of dollars in cash investment earned less than $5 of return. Those instances can be split between CPC Ads and email-blast companies. 

ROI on ads is a struggle for anyone selling anything, from indies to MNCs, so I don't weep over those losses. Curse? Yes. Sadz? No. I expect losses there; I even budget for them. 

Email-blast companies, on the other hand, I expect more from since bumping up my sales is their core business. The leader in the space, BookBub, is worth the investment for free or $0.99 books in my genres. Higher than that, and my ROI becomes a loss. There are other, smaller blast companies whom I've paid and received nothing. Not one sale, not sales page hit, not one website hit. Not even crickets were aware of the promotion. Sometimes I've had to go eight clicks deep into a blast company's site before getting to a sales link for my purchased placement. Ooof. Yeah, yeah, the blame's on me for not investigating that better before purchasing. Because I'm generous, I'll share my mistakes to save you some $$ and heartburn.

Before buying placement in an email blast, do a bit of due diligence. Check for reports of:

• Crappy Creative
• Are they using your book's cover? Are they using the image with proper ratio/sizing (or is it cropped, stretched, blurred, etc.)? What about the accompanying text? Is there any? Who is writing it? Who approves it? 
• Inflated subscriber numbers
• They're not outright lying about how many accounts have subscribed (though unscrupulous businesses could be), but they're not including how many accounts are bots or how many unsubscribes they have.
• Email open-rate is lower than the industry average
• Few blast companies report their open-rates under the protection of proprietary info.  Anecdotal information should give you a clue.
• Expanded inventory w/o notification and cancellation options
• This is a problem because it lowers the value of the purchased placement--aka instead of placement as 1 of 5 promotions in the email, the placement is 1 of 25 promotions.
• Misleading Marketing Messaging
• They promote themselves as an email-blast company, but the fine print on their website never explicitly states that your book and its buy link will be in that email. Instead, your book's info is lumped under a larger promotion (e.g. This Week's Fantasy Discounts) and buried more than 1 click off the email.  
• They upsell additional placements within their brand (social media pages, website, genre-bundles, etc.) with the classic "increase visibility up to XX%." That "up to" is a deliberate vaguery meant to disguise that what you're buying isn't worth bupkiss.
• Non-Consent Backblast
• The absolute worst sitch is buying placement with a blast company whose email list is built on harvested and/or non-opt-in addresses. Not only do you lose money, but you also lose reputation. This can happen with startups and companies under new management, so triple check before buying.

Admittedly,  I have eagerly supported the underdog/new businesses competing against the big guys and lost money (but not reputation).  Yes, I knew the risk I was taking equated to my purchase being on par with a charity donation. However, those risks were ones I could afford to make. 

As always, adhere to the golden rule of marketing and investments: 

Never spend more than you can afford to lose. 

Trendy? Eh, no.

 This Week's Topic: Tik-Tok Trends: Have I Tried Any Reading or Writing Trends?

Oh, y'all, no. Not even when I was in middle school--when being fashionable was a social life or death necessity--was I trendy. These days, I'm vaguely aware of what's what, and even then only the hype in my genre. I'm aware of the Fourth Wing phenomenon and the rise of Romantasy as a marketing category (romantic fantasy and fantasy romance have always existed, it's just that Publishing didn't want to acknowledge it, because ewwww Romance cooties! {eyeroll})

As a reader, I'm interested in the on dit because big sales numbers means the gatekeepers will shepherd some really good books that were previously rejected because "there wasn't a market for that." Admittedly, I usually wait for the second or third wave of the trend, so I reap the benefit of the hidden gems finally getting their due.

As a writer, I pay attention to trends for the sake of my advertising but not for my creative process. I don't write fast enough to release to an ephemeral trend. Ah, if only!

As for using Tik-Tok itself, that'd be a hard nope. Ain't nobody needing to see the disastrophe on this side of the screen.

OMM: Compressing Real-Life Politics into a Fantasy Timeline

This Week's Topic: On My Mind -- Compressing Real-Life Politics into a Believable Fantasy Timeline

Today's an election day here in Ohio. We're mostly voting for who will represent the party on the November ballot. As we spin in yet another face-off between tyranny and democracy, it's too easy to see the hellpit awaiting us. As a citizen, it's horrifying. As a writer, it's enlightening fodder. To have lived through 4 years of a massive and flagrant regression in morals, ethics, and basic compassion only to be threatened (again and again) with another 4 years of it, I'm trying to set aside my disappointment and fury so that I can distill the pivotal moments that enabled The Collapse to figure out where to start The Story. 

There are so many inciting moments in real life over the last fifty to seventy-five years that it's difficult to pick where our protagonist's inciting moment should happen. How do I show an audience the erasure of self-regulating concepts like shame and public censure that once held higher authorities in check? That's something that happened over a long stretch of time, but is there a single moment--or three key moments--that can be built up to convey the crumbling of an institutional pillar? How do I show it without screwing up the pacing? It's easy enough to show capitalistic corruption leading to the downfall, it's been done a lot. Showing the process of the extinction of compassion is harder for me, mostly because it's the reality that makes me the most furious. Putting current real-world events into a fantasy setting with a story that expresses the futile yet desperate fight to revive integrity and altruism has to happen in a compressed timeline yet unfold over a believable blip in time. The pivotal events have to be pushed forward by the actions of the protagonist, when the reality involves a confluence of powerful people over generations.

As I head off to the polls, that's what's On My Mind.

Website Mins, Mediums, and Maxs

 This Week's Topic: Author Websites Do's and Don'ts

We all know by now that authors need a home on the web that is theirs and not a social network's, right? Is it enough to have just a FaceBook page? No. A TickTok addy? No. Authors must have their own web destination. I'm in the camp that says authors need to have their own domain name too. Ideally, the domain name is the same as the author name/pen name.

KAKrantz.com Home Page

The whole point of a website for an author is so readers can find a listing of your works. Past, present, upcoming. Thus, at the bare minimum, an author should have:

• their name
• and any related pen names 
• their bio
• this usually includes an author headshot, short and/or long bio
• their works
• listed by genre, by series, by reading order
• should also include links to buy the works
• nice to provide a printable list
• and a means of contact
• whether it's a form-driven contact page that sends to the author's preferred email address, 
• links to their social media pages
• links to their discord, private community, etc 
• links to podcasts

Ought to haves, but not have-to-haves:

• One-click means to subscribe to their newsletter
• Also need the privacy policy page and cookie policy page if you're collecting any information on a user such as email address
• Press packet 
• Often incorporated into the About Me page, this includes author headshots/preferred images, short bio, and long bio. This is to help promotion/event organizers have the author's information at their convenience, be it for podcasts, blogs, articles, book clubs, etc.
• Where to Find Me
• If the author is touring, either virtually or IRL, a calendar of events/appearances with links to the event pages

Nice to haves, but not necessary:

• Series Extras
• Be it term glossaries, character guides, world maps, etc, it's nice to have a place where fans can download the extras that'll help them better enjoy the series.
• Writing Sample
• While big retailers offer a "look inside" preview of books, that's for audiences who are on their sites. Folks who came across the author's name before their work can get a sense of writing style from the sample on the author's website.
• Free Story Download
• This might be part of the author's newsletter lure (subscribe and get a free story!) or a separate short story to attract potential readers
• Sell-direct storefront
• If readers can buy books directly from the author, then those links should be on the book pages and on a unified storefront
• Other Author-Related Revenue Presence
• From freelance articles to workshops to Tarot readings to private coaching, etc., if the author has a writing-adjacent service or products, readers want to know

Now, as tempting as it is to put ALL THE THINGS on a website, clutter is an interest killer. The best websites are simple and straightforward, delivering what the reader needs.  After all, the end game is BOOK SALES. 

FWIW, there's a saying in web design that each click costs an additional 10% click-through rate. From a marketing standpoint, we have a "two clicks and they're gone" theory, so we try to put the buy option within two clicks of arriving at the main page. 

Unloved & Beloved Fantasy Tropes

 This Week's Topic:  Which Tropes Do I Love to Write and Which Do I Loathe?

I don't know if there is a Fantasy trope I loathe to write. The Damsel in Distress probably comes the closest, but I'd totally make it "the tribe/village/town in distress" instead of a TDTL heroine. Avenge My Slaughtered Wife/Mother/Daughter? I hate the conceit that women have to die for men to succeed. That's not to say I don't love a good revenge story; just don't bump off the Important Woman...or the dog. No killing the dog, ever.

I'm wholly in bed with The Mentor trope. Magical artifacts and magical creatures? Pffft, hell yes! Antagonist as former bestie? Love it. Chosen One and The Prophecy? Sure, them's a bedrock of Fantasy. Overpowered Protagonist? Done it. Lost family? Any day, any time. Parallel dimensions/other worlds? Absolutely. Portal? Yaaaas. The Dying of Magic/The Birth of Magic? Yup, yup, yup. My list of beloved tropes is much longer than I'll post, but you get the gist.

The trope I'm too chicken to tackle? Alternate History.  I love reading 'em. Writing 'em? 🐔🐣🐔

Overthinking and the Blinding Flash of Brilliance

 This Week's Topic: How Do I Stop Overthinking My Writing?

{cuts open skull}

{takes out brain}

{leaves it on desk}

No? Maybe not?

Okay, fine. 

I laughed when I saw this topic because overthinking things is so me. I can spend a whole day in a thought spiral for what amounts to less than a page worth of story. D'oh! What a colossal waste of precious time, right? 

So, how do I stop doing it? Yes, I appreciate that the question is "stop doing" versus "never do."  In accordance with the universal first step, one must recognize there is a problem. For me, that usually comes when a pee break forces me to step away from the computer. I have a habit of mentally checking my progress toward my daily goal during those moments of, erm, seated relief. (Yeah, I'm the girl who starts her day with "what do I have to get done today, what do I want to get done today, and what can I absolutely not do today.") That's usually when I realize I've spent the last two hours reworking the same damn page. When I return to my WiP, I don't let myself look at the mess I've created. I move on. 

Sometime around 2AM, the solution will come to me. 

The second way I realize I'm overthinking the problem is when I MAKE THINGS WORSE. Usually, I'm overthinking a scene or a moment when I'm trying to clarify and/or simplify the information imparted. Somehow in the throes of it, I make things more complex. Again, once I realize what a disastrophy I'm writing, I move on. I force myself to turn the page (or page-down the page?).  The Blinding Flash of Brilliance (BFB™️) will come once my subconscious has had time to noodle on it.

Overthinking a point of your story is bound to happen. The key to working through it is to realize when you've succumbed. Once you know you're caught in the thought spiral, you can break free. Give your subconscious time to figure it out, then you can go back and fix things. You know that process called Editing? Yep. It's where BFBs shine. 

Believable Intimacy

 This Week's Topic: How Do I Make My Love Scenes Believable?

Man, it's tough being the one to follow Jeffe, who won Romancelandia's most prestigious award for best romance with Pages of the Mind. Her backlist includes holy-hot-stuff fantasy and contemporary erotica. I write "how to 'splode your enemy's head" kind of books; thus, I kinda wanna cheat and just post a "what she said" link. 

But, I'm pulling up my ruffled big-girl panties and giving you, dear readers, my $0.04 worth of opinion.

I could be a little shit and say, "I don't write explicit sex scenes," but that would be a lie. I've written 'em, I just haven't tortured the public with them. However, I do write (and have published) scenes of intimacy. They may not be ass-baring, but they are soul-baring. And, yeah, as Jeffe said, the key to believability is to ground the actions, emotions, and personal evolution in the character's character. 

In healthy relationships, vulnerabilities are exposed, acknowledged, and treated with care by the partner.  In healthy relationships, desires are shared both verbally and physically. In healthy relationships, there's give and take, both in dominance and submission--even during vanilla sex. There's a respect between (or among) partners that--in a medium of show vs tell--is absolutely shown.

By contrast, in unhealthy relationships, the opposite is shown. Deliberate disrepect. Intentional hiding  of or trampling over needs. Engagement as a tool of punishment (not kink). Humilation and degradation (again, not as kink). Whether or not anything is being penetrated, the cruel intention spurring the actions is plain. 

In the course of a story, the scene of intimacy is used to either advance character development or to demonstrate character self-sabotage. Sure, if you're aiming to write a believable sex scene involving humans, you'll want to avoid portraying the man as an endless fountain of jizz banging on his mate for hours. Chafe is real, and dudes do have to take a break to rest and reload, ya know. 😇

Book Launches: Three Tips

This Week's Topic: What Are My Book Launch Tips?

The most important one? Have fun. Celebrate.

    Really. I'm not being a smartass this time. Whether you're releasing your first book or your hundred-and-first book, release day should include a celebration. Doesn't have to be big, but do recognize your own accomplishment. The book you worked hard on is finally out there. You did it! Yay you! Snarf a cupcake, binge an extra episode, or have a round of drinks with friends. Whatever you consider a treat, go ahead, indulge!

The second most important one? Have reasonable expectations. 

    The only thing wrong with dreaming is mistaking it for reality. Imagining your book-baby will bring in thousands--no, hundreds of thousands--of sales on its first day? {grimace} First week? {cringe}First...year? {cough} Aiming for a best-seller list? NYT or one of Amazon's niche categories? The former is much harder to hit than the latter. Even if you have a deep-pocketed publisher's support, selling 500k+ copies on release day/week isn't reasonable unless you already have established an audience larger than that. Building an audience of that size takes a lot of work and is what most authors are constantly striving towards.

    Already picking out your IRL launch party outfit? Picturing a full house at your local bookstore? Envisioning the line of costumed fans winding through the conference hall waiting for your autograph? Go back and re-read the previous paragraph about having an already established audience. Then do a web search for anecdotes about book signings. Even the famous have sat alone and ignored. Not trying to be a killjoy, just pointing out reality.  If you are invited to sign somewhere, make sure readers can actually buy your books (I know, that should be a given, and yet...). Get a fine-point pen that doesn't bleed and remember to ask how to spell a name instead of assuming anything. 

Don't set yourself up for disappointment by believing the wish-fulfillment fantasies portrayed in movies and TV. Even Roberts and Childs had to build their audiences before making it big. Be aggressive with your goals, but reasonable with your expectations.

The most practical one? Have a plan with built-in flexibility

    Make up a list of To-Do's 100 days before release day. If you plan too far in advance, then you'll have to revise/revisit more than once due to the inevitable changes in technology, changes in the production schedule, changes in what's hot trend-wise, or changes in your life. Know what is within your control and what isn't. Allow wiggle room in your schedule for the sake of your own sanity and the unexpected happening. 

   Pre-Orders: If you're doing a pre-order, you'll have some deliverables around the 90-day mark. Whether pre-orders are worth it, depends on your goals. If you're trying to hit a top-sellers list, then you probably want pre-orders so you can amass sales that are counted on release day. Me? I don't do 'em because I'm not after a single-day or first-week number boost. My audience isn't big enough to come close to hitting the kinds of lists that would drive more sales. 

    Ads: Do invest a bit of time to set up advertising on the big distributors. (Ads really aren't that hard to set up. Refining your ads for maximum ROI is where it gets eye-twitchy.) For those distributors that allow it, make compelling (legible with a call to action) graphics. If your current release is not a stand-alone nor first-in-series, then push the point-of-entry book 60+ days before your release and the series 30 days before release to stir interest in your new book. 

    Social Media: Leading up to release day, don't bother torturing yourself by using social media sites that you don't enjoy using or that you don't use regularly. You probably don't have a large audience there anyway, so you're just pimping into the void. Engagement stats on most platforms are in the fractions of a single percent, and conversions to sales are fractions of those fractions. Promoting there is not worth your effort. If you feel compelled to do so anyway (probably due to a contract), do not barge into established conversations/groups and promote your book (unless explicitly invited to do so). That's how you get haters (and wind up banned from the group). 

    On the sites you do use, if you lead an active audience (group, discord, followers, etc.) with whom you engage frequently, then they're probably cheering for you and would be crushed if you didn't do some fun promotions from which they benefit. This is the time to do virtual launch parties and swag if you can afford it. If you can't afford tangible goods, then go with a free digital copy of your book or gift of your time (but be safe and smart, there are a lot of unpleasant people out there). However, expect less than 10% of those members to actually buy your book. Conversions are more in the 2% range. Yeeeah, it's true, social media isn't great for ROI. So only do it if you enjoy it. 

    Newsletters: Hands down, newsletters offer the best conversion of subscribers to sales at 15%-25%. Those are outstanding numbers in the world of marketing, so this is where to focus your pre- and post-launch efforts. After all, your subscribers asked you to contact them (not to spam them, not to pester them with pointless babble). The topic of newsletters demands multiple posts unto itself, so I'll keep this short by saying if you're doing pre-orders, then you should schedule 2-4 swaps and one broadcast of your own to announce the pre-order. If you're not doing pre-orders, then wait until release day to contact your own subscribers and spread out your swaps. Remember: swaps mean you're obligated to promote the other authors' work in your newsletter in exchange for them promoting your book, so schedule accordingly. Send follow-up newsletters and schedule additional swaps to coincide with discounts you're running.  

    Do NOT spend more than you can afford on advertising, be it CPC, swag, or promo companies.

    Uploads: If you're self-pubbing, my best-practice (though possibly unpopular) piece of advice is to not upload placeholders for the sake of pre-orders. Sure, it's allowed by some distributors, but you're asking for a tech-glitch on release day. Too many authors have experienced their placeholder content being delivered instead of their final product. Spare yourself the nightmare by adjusting your schedule to only put into public that which is ready for the public. Similarly, make sure your book is done-done and uploaded at least two weeks before the distributor's lock-out date. If there are tech-gremlins at the point of upload, you've got time to panic tweak.

There you have it, my tips for launching your book. Kinda easy, no?

Book-Related Income: Having a Platform of Monetary Value

 This Week's Topic: How Do I Make Book-Related Income Not from Book Sales?

Uhm.

{sucks on upper lip}

I don't.

As Jeffe mentioned on Sunday, this week's topic is prompted by the 2023 Author's Guild Author Income Survey. The survey defines "other author-related income" as being earned from work that includes: "editing, blogging, teaching, speaking, book coaching, copy writing and journalism."

No one on the SFF Seven gets paid for blogging here nor does the blog generate revenue. Yes, that's the reason you're not inundated by ads and newsletter subscription pop-ups. We freely share our experiences with other authors who might be feeling a little lost or a lot of frustrated--and every emotion in between--because we value our community and can commiserate with the assorted challenges of publishing. Since there is no one way of being an author, our dear readers get up to seven different perspectives on how/why each of us has approached a particular aspect of the craft or business.

Why am I not pursuing the alternate-income avenue? Do I not like money? Pfft. I'm not yet at the stage of having the bona fides to establish a platform of monetary value. For the time being, my attention is focused on writing the books to build a backlist that produces the sales that would allow me to feel as though I have sufficient success and insights of value to prospective students from which I could craft a for-fee class/workshop. I look forward to the day I can do that. No, really. Although I'm an introvert, I love public speaking and have led many workshops in my non-writer lives since I was a yewt.  (Long-time readers of this blog may recall I wanted to be an actor when I grew up. To me, public speaking is acting while educating through engagement.)

One day. Yep. One day a KAKler workshop will be a thing. {evil laugh}

The Evolving Writer: A Foundation in Romance

 This Week's Topic: Has My Writing Changed? How?

I'd like to think my writing has improved, though I suppose that's a bit subjective. I do know that after two decades of crafting stories, I'm more aware of my weaknesses, my stylistic habits (which are not to be confused with my voice), and my creative goals. That's a long-winded way of saying I know me better. Useful, no? 

Has my writing changed in ways perceptible to others? Well, I started off writing romances. PNR-Shifter and High Fantasy (what is now known as Romantasy) to be specific. Romance is where I learned to place importance on developing characters and relationships against a fantastical backdrop. Telling a story in dual POVs that express unique perspectives of shared situations pushed me to think through goals and consequences and how they must vary by character. This unquestionably helped me improve as an author.

I moved away from Romance because I wanted to tell broader stories around a central character where the development of a core intimate relationship wasn't the main plot. That's not a diss on romance; I still love the genre and am a big fan of the authors who write it well. I've blogged before about how my storytelling didn't deliver on romance reader expectations and how important it is for an author to meet those expectations. With my foundations firmed thanks to Romancelandia, I'm much more confident when writing Fantasy. 

So, yes, my writing has changed since I started my journey. I thought I was a Romance writer, but I discovered that I'm really more of a High and Contemporary Fantasy sort of storyteller. 

Hobbies: I'm Going to Un-Mess That S#%& Up!

 This Week's Topic: Secret Skills - Hobbies That Take the Pressure Off Writing

I really love Jeffe's description on Sunday of a creative's hobby being a non-monetized artistic/creative outlet. The importance of giving ourselves permission to not monetize our every effort feels like we're breaking a rule of The Hustle or as if we'll lose our self-employment "privilege." Yet, as Jeffe mentioned, it's imperative for authors to have means to clear our minds, to allow ourselves to rest in a state other than sleep. 

Three Cheers for Hobbies!

Me? I enjoy decluttering/organizing other people's stuff -- defeating chaos soothes me. Weird right? Yeah, you'd think that's a stress-inducing hobby rather than a stress reliever, but hey, we long ago established I'm playing with chipped marbles. 

I also like painting. Walls. Rooms. Signs. The practice of transformation with a tangible end result (that takes less time to produce than a novel) is soooooo satisfying. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a muralist. I'm not that talented. I've made attempts. I've also made spectacular failures. But that's the beauty of a hobby, it's judgement-free learning (at least, for me. My dog has opinions, sure, but they're mostly about the weather and whether she wants to come inside).

When I engage in my hobbies, I check all the way out of writing and go deep into the work-avoidance other project. I am fully committed to (un)messing that shit up! 

Creative Development: By Book or By...

This week's topic: Do I look for new skills to try each year or with each book?

Intentionally? By series. I definitely like to attempt something new-to-me with each series for three reasons: 

1. I'm always trying to improve as a writer
• There's a difference between the natural growth that's a result of practice versus the deliberate pursuit of a challenge, of reaching for a higher rung. 
• Book-to-book within a series my storytelling inevitably improves as I become more comfortable with the characters, the world, and the conflicts.
• Series-to-series I push myself to take on a creative challenge. Sometimes I succeed (and those series make it to print). Sometimes I fail (and those messy attempts never leave my cloud storage).
• I keep an eye on the higher rungs that are my creative goals. Similar to what Jeffe mentioned on Sunday, there are series I want to write but lack the chops to do my concept justice. Those partially drafted Book Ones languish in notebooks or on my cloud, waiting for the day I have the skills to properly convey my vision.
2. It prevents me from writing "the same book with different names." 
• I don't feel I've reached my fullest potential as an author yet. I certainly don't want to lose my creative drive by repeating a storytelling formula that's comfortable or easy. I like the excitement of challenging myself and improving.
• Note: There's nothing wrong with developing a storytelling formula that works best for you (and your readers) and applying it over and over and over. There are plenty of famous authors who use a tried-and-true method to great financial success. Many readers find comfort in knowing exactly what they'll get from that author.
3. No Bait & Switch
• Once I introduce a series, I don't want to change the voice, style, or structure whilst in the throes of the greater story arc. I feel that's an injustice to the reader, a violation of the storytelling promise I made in the opening book.
• By contrast, I don't want to be locked into a specific storytelling style for the rest of my career. I feel that changing my style from series to series is a clear enough indicator to the reader of Achtung! Different Book Ahead!

Sometimes we grow as authors through intentional acts, and sometimes we grow through myopic focus (hello, contractual deadlines) where we don't realize the breadth of what we've accomplished until it's behind us. In whatever manner your progress happens, I encourage you to take a moment to reflect on how far you've come--even if it's not as far as you'd hoped--and be proud of yourself. You did it. Congratulations! 

Inspiration & The Value of Social Media

 This Week's Topic: 3 Sources of Inspiration

Happy 2024! On this second day of the new year, some of us are reluctantly emerging from the haze of excessive consumption, questionable decisions, and the bitter confirmation that we are, in fact, too old to keep doing "this." Whether "this" is guzzling a magnum of champagne by yourself or writing 30 books in a year, you're not alone. Across the globe, people woke up not to New Year's resolutions but to New Year's realizations.

I salute you, my fellow members of Team Realization.

I realized that something I detest has somehow become something on which I...rely. 

{huge dramatic sigh} 

Social media has become the means through which I discover my inspiration. My first two sources of inspiration haven't changed no matter my age or circumstance: music and folklore. However, novels and movies have taken a step back as social media swaggered into third place. 

I know, I know. I am pained to admit it.
Yet for you, dear readers, I do confess.

Improved information accessibility via the evolutions of technology and the intense social pressure to perform for the world if one has a mote of talent (for better and worse) permit me to fall down deep, deep, deep rabbit holes chasing videos or teasers from amazing creatives whose works I discovered due to a post on social media. 99% of the time I didn't discover those artists directly from their feeds, but through others linking to a post about an article about a TikTok about a technique, a myth, a song, a story, an animation, etc.

That's the kind of viral marketing every author (and everyone selling anything) dreams of happening. It's not a pathway of discovery that the source can measure or of which they are even aware. True, this fan-based trail is typically rife with click-monetization, yet it creates a symbiosis in the discovery environment. Truer still, the creative at the end of the trail probably sees less than 0.0001% of the monetization (if any money at all). Despite that, the feat of being discovered in a sea of billions holds immense value. When talking heads speak of social media being necessary for creatives, this is why. This elusive interlinking Gordian knot of passions, fans, creatives, and products is wonderful even when the artist never knows if or how their efforts are working. 

*Note: This description of the value of fan-directed, interest-related discovery in no way supports the pirating, scraping, or theft of any works or content. Nor does it support the exploitative practice of "exposure as payment."

To my fellow authors and artists who feel like they're shouting into the void, keep posting. You never know when your talent will fuel another creative's inspiration. 

Cheers to the Changing of the Year

 This Week's Topic: Thoughts on the Closing of the Year/Start of the New Year

As we say goodbye to 2023 and look ahead to 2024

I wish you all 

Good Health

Good Fortune

and

Good Company

Cheers to the changing of the year!

A Peaceful Pause

 This Week's Topic: On My Mind, the Winter Edition

It's the time of year when I give myself permission to not write, to pause marketing analysis, and to back off ad management. There's no guilt for missing word-count goals. No stress over skipping editing pages. My book discounts and winter ad campaigns were launched at the beginning of the month and are slated to run through the end of January (yes, I do winter campaigns versus holy day campaigns).  I check my sales mostly because it's a habit and not because I will do anything to adjust campaigns.

When writing full-time--or any type of self-employment--we often forget to give ourselves permission to take a break. As creatives, it's imperative we step back, step away, and step into a place of regeneration and relaxation. Too many of us attempt to keep our work schedules during times of the year that we know will demand a lot of us outside our fictional worlds. Whether it's family obligations, religious observations, charity deliverables, or community interactions, the end of the calendar year is exceptionally taxing. Fighting the inevitable isn't worth my health or my sanity. Thus, I give myself permission to set aside my writing--both the creation and the business--to participate in the season of giving. Giving my time, my emotion, and my cooperation to those who've supported me throughout the year. 

Now, now, I don't give away all my time. I still maintain my restful hours. I even claim a few extras. Because, as stimulating as it is to reconnect with loved ones, it's also exhausting. This recluse can only handle so much of...people.

This winter, dear readers, I wish you the serenity of a peaceful pause.

Inigo Montoya and My Favorite Website

 This Week's Topic: What Website Do I Use The Most While Writing?

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.--William Goldman, The Princess Bride

I am guilty of this far more than I care to admit. There's a point at which contextual clues fail, and my vocabulary is filled with those results. Turns out, close is not actually good enough when one is the author instead of the reader. My greater foible is homophones. Greater still, straight up bad spelling. Then there's the whole When to Hyphenate issue. We won't discuss the CapItaLiZatIon iN FanTasY chaos that gives grammarians GERD.

I really ought to send my copy editor an Inigo Montoya plushy. 

{sheepish}

New Fantasy Romance & Old Fiery Fantasy

Jeffe's latest in her Renegades of Magic fantasy romance series is out today!

TWISTED MAGIC: Renegades of Magic Book 3
Their love makes them stronger together... 

Unless the world rips them apart

BUY IT NOW: Amazon | Kobo | Apple | Direct from Jeffe

This Week's Topic: Winter Holiday Promo!

LARCOUT
Fire Born, Blood Blessed: Book 1

SPFBO 2016 Finalist!

Blood-beings can be chattel or char.

Fire seethes through the veins of every Morsam, demanding domination and destruction. Combat is a hobby. Slaughtering the inferior blood-beings is entertainment. Life is a repetitious cycle in the prison fashioned by the gods. But mix-race abomination Vadrigyn os Harlo suspects the key to freedom lies in safeguarding the blood-beings; until her blood-born mother uses foreign magic to turn the Morsam against her. Betrayed, bound, and broken, Vadrigyn struggles against the dying of her essential fire. Yet the ebbing flames unleash the dormant magic of her mixed heritage…

The magic to destroy free will.

Seized by the gods and dumped in the desert nation of Larcout to stop history from repeating, Vadrigyn discovers her mother’s legacy of treason and slaughter still festers. To survive the intrigues of the royal court, the roiling undercurrents of civil war, and the gods themselves, Vadrigyn must unravel the conspiracy behind her mother’s banishment. But manipulating free will unleashes a torrent of consequences.

If she fails the gods, she will return to the Morsam prison, stripped of all magic and all hope.

If she succeeds, she can rule a nation.

Kasthu. Roborgu. Inarchma.

Live. Learn. Burn. 

Buy It Now: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks |Kobo 

Read an Excerpt: Chapter 1

Gratitude: Pi the Pumpkin Queen

This Week's Topic:

Gratitude: Three Cheers for Writing Buddies (be they furry or friendly)!

Regular readers of this blog know about Pi, my constant companion, my furry beast, my "get off your ass and walk me before you develop a clot" timer, my pestiest writing buddy. 

Pi the Pumpkin Queen

During this week of conscious gratitude, we thank you, dear readers, for supporting us throughout the years past, present, and future.

Happy Thanksgiving!