I recently did an interactive reading of “Climbing The Walls“, Book 1 of my “Hart & Cole” series, with Saga’s co-founder Pranika Sharma on the segment “Hearing It Out Loud”.
This excerpt we chose is the introduction of Nicole’s boss Darren Hart — my favourite character. You’ll hate him in Book 1, but I promise you’ll love him eventually!
Check out the video!
I was thrilled to finally get a chance to talk at length about my “Hart & Cole” series with Saga’s co-founder Aakriti recently on “The Author Tells”.
We talked about everything from the conceptualisation of the series, my writing process, my favourite characters, key themes in the series, and much more! Check out the video!
As of October 1st, 2021, my first book “Climbing The Walls” is LIVE on the Saga app — exclusively (e-version).
That’s right. I hit “Unpublish” on Amazon. That’s a HUGE step for any writer, but I did it.
I took a leap of faith in a new start-up company run by young book lovers. Saga Fiction is India’s foremost mobile fiction app, which handpicks the best of feel-good stories and contemporary fiction, bringing to you an undeniable reading experience with serialized fiction, mini novellas, and page-turning novels.
“Climbing The Walls” was converted into 58 “episodes” (each around 1000-3000 words, depending on how chapters/breaks fell) and 10 seasons with 5-7 episodes each. Episodes will be releasing daily over the next 2+ months, so you can enjoy it in “bite-sized” chunks!
As part of this process, I did a huge edit yet AGAIN to crunch my book down, and I think it’s much better for it.
I’ve had this book around since I was a teenager myself… 15+ years ago was its first iteration, so you can imagine! Obviously my writing has matured since then, and I’ve needed some distance to *really* be able to edit it, and of course the loving hands of the Saga team to guide me as to what could and should be cut.
This version may be the first that many readers see, as I’ve been terrible at marketing it so my books haven’t had a huge audience just yet. Not totally a bad thing though… I’m glad this refined version is the one that many will first read!
I’ve also been really excited to dive into the Saga marketing strategies — from video trailers to introduce my characters to “What Would You Do?” scenarios, to my own Insta stories (which I hope I’ll find time to post)! I’ve also done interviews with the Saga team on “The Publishing Dialogue” and will soon do “The Author Tells” segment where I’ll finally get to talk about my characters! Haha!
I’m loving my Saga experience thus far. I can’t speak to the financial side just yet, but it’s been a pleasure to work with people who love your book babies and treat them with care!
Far too many companies that allow readers to contribute stories have zero to little support for their authors and barely have a hand in the content it spins around, but I’ve had quite a deep dive into my books so that what I release is something I’m proud of — and something I can take away at the end of the experience, so for me the risk is worth it.
My main goal is for my books to get a wider audience, and I’m thrilled to introduce my characters to the world because they SO deserve it!
If you are interested in becoming a writer for Saga, be sure to check out their website and see what it takes!
AND of course you should download the app ASAP so you can start reading my book baby “Climbing The Walls” and much more!
I was thrilled to have a chat with Saga’s co-founders Aakriti and Pranika recently on “The Publishing Dialogue”.
We talked about everything from my writing and editing process, tips for new writers, the publishing industry, and much more! Check out the video!
So… remember when I recently lamented that short-story writers are the best secret-keepers?
Well, I got tired of keeping that secret… for a few of my stories, at least!
I’m thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of my very first SHORT STORY COLLECTION!
I’ve partnered with the Saga mobile app (where my Hart & Cole series will soon find a new home) to also release some of the short stories that I’ve written over the past 15+ years. They desperately needed a home and a wider audience than just me! 🙂
I never really know what to do with short stories… they’re these little fissures of INK (usually tinged with darkness) that slip through unbidden, and after they pour out in their insular perfection, then what?
…What do I do with them?
I’d shared a few with my Writer’s Guild, futilely entered a couple in competitions, or sometimes sent to a friend, but mostly they just sat there on my laptop, unloved.
Thanks to the Saga mobile app, I finally have an avenue to share them with others, all prettily packaged and thematically preserved for posterity!
The first “pretty package” (because I have more planned!) comes in the form of “Amalgamated Darkness“, a compilation of 8 short stories that sketch human nature at its darkest hour.
Here’s the blurb:
A girl becomes a woman – with another’s blood on her hands.
An athlete is propelled by bloodlust to a senseless act.
A boy becomes the custodian of his mother’s madness.
A young woman chooses a path to self-destruction in her partner.
A village enacts its own justice system.
A man fixates on a mysterious young girl.
A misfit evolves from observer to admirer to aggressor.
An act of youthful folly consumes a woman’s sanity.Thought-provoking and evocative, these tales take power in their universality: they could happen anywhere, at any time, to anyone. From virtuous innocence to tainted experience with a sprinkle of the supernatural, these eight captivating short stories take you on a journey to the darkness that fuels the often ordinary lives of people that inhabit the world around us.
Particularly when it comes to support from your network.
Or who you “think” is your network, anyway.
You know… your friends, your family, your coworkers or colleagues, and the like.
Almost everyone who’s aware of your writing “hobby” (because that’s the box they’ve put it into, in their minds) will have genuine words of support while your work is in progress, and maybe even when it’s out there.
But for many… once the time is upon us to actually support beyond saying “Congrats”… it’s crickets.
Recently, a friend of mine opened a business. I stopped in, bought something, took photos, and posted it on social media.
Now, whenever I spot a post from this friend about the business, I’ll share and add a line or two encouraging my friends/followers to check it out.
And every chance I get, if I think someone’s even remotely interested, I’ll mention in a word-of-mouth convo: “Oh, if you’re looking for X, I know this place…”
Mind you, I’m not even that close to this guy. And this guy is BELOVED. He has hundreds, maybe even thousands, of friends. People know he’s talented.
But when he took this talent to create something bigger, I was in the tiny percentile that gave a rat’s ass.
Still, when any already-famous celebrity does the slightest thing, the average Joe or Josephina jumps on top of it to support.
…To yell “me too!” into a cacophony of noise that won’t make the slightest difference to its producer.
Fortunately for me, I didn’t expect too much from my immediate real-life network in terms of writing.
I never have, if we’re being entirely honest here.
I’ve been writing FOREVER, and as a child I was lucky to have parents who would share my stories and novels and accomplishments with their colleagues, whether or not they read it themselves — just because they were proud I was writing.
But apart from those who brought you into this world… (and in some cases, not even them!)… I wouldn’t recommend counting on anyone else’s lifelong support for your accomplishments.
Even at university, when I was President of the Writers’ Guild at one point, I knew that this world — writers — would always be separate from my friends who I’d go out and party with.
I’m not saying that writers can’t party. Oh, we can, and we did, and we do!
But (almost) anyone you meet outside of that safe space of “Hey, we are both writers” will NEVER understand the struggle.
They’ll never know how much their support means, or maybe even how to support you. And that’s if they even want to!
I’m three years into my published writing journey so far, and I can count maybe 10-15 friends that have done even one of the following: (1) bought the book (2) downloaded a free copy when prompted (3) left a review (4) told their friends (5) done literally anything beyond say “Congrats”.
It’s not that my friends suck. I love my friends.
…But my friends aren’t writers.
They don’t live with fully-fleshed characters in their heads for 15-20 years.
They don’t spend countless hours trying to fix a scene to make it “just right”.
They don’t spend entire chunks of their day hopping from author Facebook group to promo Facebook group and back again, or literally years just browsing the internet trying to learn the marketing side of this craft.
They don’t understand that your writing, your fictional world, and your characters are sacred… and their blatant disregard or flippant remark may be hurtful.
They’re sweet, and maybe they mean well… but they don’t get it. They simply can’t.
Even if they try to (and most don’t), the reality is that everyone else is living their lives while you’re writing yours away.
Or, quite simply: they aren’t your target market.
But somewhere out there is someone who will support you in the ways you need. That person, that reader, that fan… for whom your story will change their life.
…It’s just really, really unlikely that that person will ALSO be your friend.
So if this post seemed bitter from the jump, I hope it’s not coming off like that now.
It’s not about writers screaming “buy my book” until their network is tired of hearing it, and it’s not about friends being unsupportive.
It’s about education and understanding. As writers, it’s our job to educate our network — tell others what we want, when we want it, and how much we would appreciate it.
As I posted recently to one of those bajillion author groups I now belong to:
You don’t often get things you don’t ask for.
So writers… (and I’ve seen the bitter posts on many author groups!)… ASK. Just ASK. Don’t be ashamed to flaunt your writer wares to your loved ones and explicitly outline: “This is how I would like you to help me, even if you have zero intention of ever buying or reading my book.”
We live in a shareable world driven by social media influencers, and amidst the cacophony of noise, any little nudge will help.
So, writers, ask for that nudge! Here’s mine:
You can share my posts, my promotional images, my Author website, my purchase links, my Facebook page @SFortuneAuthor, my Instagram feed @sfortuneauthor, or my Twitter feed @authorsfortune.
So, I now have a third — that’s right, THIRD — major re-edit of Book 1 of my series…
LOL. It feels like I’ll never stop working on that pesky first pancake!
I recently signed an exclusive contract with Saga, an Indian publishing company, for my entire series to be converted into an episodic format for their upcoming mobile fiction app.
That’s right… you heard me… exclusive. That means *GULP* taking it off of Amazon, for a specific period. (I’ll let you know how that goes!)
But this entire transition onto the app meant that the Saga folks did a deep-dive into my series and gave some good suggestions (mainly — to chop out some bits) so I took it to heart and did a significant overhaul.
Mind you, I’m an awesome editor in my own right… I do, after all, make a living at this… but you can’t, you just CAN’T edit yourself!
In the case of “Climbing The Walls“, it meant entire flashback scenes and minor plot points disappeared entirely, a few scenes were rewritten to cover up those gaps, and then minor snipping to cut every stray word.
Sounds crazy that I still had so much to cut, but it was a cathartic process to get the book down to a now much less unwieldy tome. At around 110,000 words, it’s definitely — and finally — in its right word count bracket.
Litrejections say 80,000-110,000 and JerichoWriters say 75,000-110,000 for women’s fiction, Reedsy suggests 80,000-110,000 for commercial and literary fiction, so I’m just squeezing in under the limit there!
My first draft of this novel was over 15 years ago, so it’s understandable that I’ve grown a lot as a writer since. The problem is that I was stuck in my head with who my characters were, and tried to get it all in. With considerable distance, and fresh editorial eyes on this masterpiece of mine, it’s finally where it should be.
Another piece of good news (to me) is that my entire series will get new covers.
I love my covers, but I have to admit that they may not be on-genre. Purple and black suggest erotica (apparently) as I learnt! And while there are sexy elements to my stories, that’s not the main theme.
I have no idea what the new covers will all look like, but I’m looking forward to a change.
The first one is done and it is a distinct shift from the past!
Just like the words themselves, I’m stuck in my own head with the cover. Even when I updated the cover of Book 1, it looked similar!
I have to let go and let someone else make some decisions, for a change.
I’m excited about my new partnership, as I know it’ll reach markets I have no hope of reaching on my own with my limited finances.
But I’m also scared of giving up control.
Being a writer is about playing God with a universe you create.
Tacking on a publishing house’s name to my own production company is, in a word… frightening!
But I’m game.
I’m also emotionally exhausted with marketing my own books, and for this year to date, I have made most of my income from NON-novel-writing work! I’ve taken on proofing/editing, content copywriting, beta reading, critiquing, even doing a book synopsis for a fellow author — among a slew of editorial work and freelance clients.
So screaming my book from the mountaintops… yeah, I just don’t have the energy or time to do it anymore. I need to let someone else take the reins — at least, for a little bit, while I focus on the financial stuff through other means. Hopefully I can use some of that to feed back into my own promotions eventually, but for now I’m willing to just sit and wait and see how things go with Saga.
Wish me luck!
My two new short stories are amazing. At least, I think so. (I may be biased.)
But, here’s the thing… what do I do with them now?
For the past decade, I’ve been focusing on my Hart & Cole novel series, which takes a LOT out of me, so my short-story fuse tapered out.
I used to write a lot of them while I was doing my undergraduate degree and I belonged to (and at one point presided over) my university’s Writers’ Guild.
Guild was a place to bring them, to discuss them, to get feedback, to tweak them, and the like. Every year we also published an Anthology. So there was an audience, and an eventual route of publication if so desired.
But now that I’ve written new stories, I have no idea what to do with them.
Firstly, do I even want to “sell” them? Because, well… they’re loosely inspired by my experiences of early parenting during a pandemic.
I’m pretty sure my partner would be alarmed if he read them, but as I’ve said before, fortunately he’s not a reader so the likelihood of this is slim to none.
As a writer, we often pull some tiny fragment from personal experience and then embellish to turn it into something fictional, so I took some leeway with that for my short stories.
While they’re somewhat personal to me, they are fiction and will amuse and entertain readers.
So… right, if I do decide I’m comfortable with putting them out there, where do I begin?
What do you do, with a random story?
Though I think they’re amazing, I also don’t really think they’re competition-worthy, as I’d hate to adjust them in even the slightest way to fit into any competition’s guidelines.
I can just publish them, of course… but I’d need to flesh out a full collection, to be able to cobble something together for purposes of a sale.
And though they can stand on their own if I release them individually on one of the modern “bite-sized” platforms, I’d really like to create a whole thematic collection so they can be read as a group rather than on their own.
That means I need to write several more, say anywhere from 3-8 more, so I can call this “Pandemic Perusings” a collection.
…While those two stories linger, already written… hanging on, unseen. Until the muse strikes for their compatriots to come along for the ride.
It’s like hanging on to an amazing secret, with no knowledge of when you can tell the world.
As writers, we are all secret-keepers of something amazing. And as short story writers, we really are the best secret-keepers. I also have novels burning a hole in my soul, because I know what’ll happen and can’t just tell everyone — I have to F**KING write the damn novel!
But back to my short stories…
Deciding the path for your big book babies is one thing… but it’s quite another for your mini-babies!
Yeah, I know that having stories is the LAST thing a writer should complain about, but I’m in a quandary at the moment — not having the wherewithal to create a collection, while also not wanting to do my amazing stories a disservice by rushing them out there with little context, nor do I want to hold them back when they deserve to meet the world.
In a nutshell: FM(Writer)L.
As the year started, I re-dedicated myself to my flailing “Reader Blog” with a bang. In 3 months, I read and reviewed a whopping 35 books so far! My aim is to get to at least 100 for the year, so that’s 8+ per month.
I started off the year top-heavy as I’m sure life will get in the way, so I’m already 1/3 of the way there — woot!
…Only, one small problem: that doesn’t leave me with a whole lot of time to do my own writing!
The thing is, “writing” isn’t just actually creating and typing up a story.
As an indie author, writing is about 20% vs. the marketing and selling your soul which is 8,000,000%. And yeah, I’ve had zero energy for that lately! So my sales dipped. Ah, well.
On the plus side, a few authors whom I wrote reviews for were kind enough to “buy me a coffee” via my Kofi page:
Mind you, this is given AFTER I’ve already posted the review, and there is absolutely ZERO obligation to pay a dime because — as I’ve explained at length — I do not believe in paid reviews.
So when someone does decide to show their appreciation, it’s always awesome to get even the tiniest amount (or even a social mention, or even a simple thank you!) when you weren’t expecting it, as you know it was given from the heart!
Apart from these authors who donated, my slew of reviews also helped me to land a few paid clients who wanted my help as a “beta reader“. I received great reviews — probably because I’m opinionated so my “beta-read” is like a deep-dive developmental edit!
I had flirted with the gig industry years ago, but ultimately decided it’s not for me as the money just isn’t worth the time.
Now, I reactivated my gigs with the intention not to make money at all (though that’s nice) but to connect with other authors, and I have no regrets.
I’m sure I’ll deactivate my gigs again when my actual full-time job gets too demanding, but (thanks to my limited social life at the moment) for now there was a sufficient window to squeeze in a few beta-read jobs, and I’m glad I did.
It’s been a thrill to read some truly AMAZING works-in-progress. I can’t wait to see them fully launched onto the world, and to know I had a part to play in refining it!
Anyway… it all goes to show, I’ve recently done a fair amount of contributing to the writer world… even though I’ve barely written!
I know this isn’t sustainable, because obviously my Hart & Cole characters are NOT pleased, but it’s been great to sit back and just READ for a change.
I love reading. Like, really love reading.
As a child, I always had my nose stuck in a book, and that was me right up until adulthood. Then, my degree and its endless reading lists soon made me feel guilty about everything that I read for fun.
My reading waned, faltered, and eventually tapered off into the odd book every blue moon. Every few months I had a spurt, and then it died down.
Last year — new motherhood, global pandemic — was the absolute WORST in terms of my reading, and that’s what drove me to take a stand! For the love of reading!!!
Now, having a “Reader Blog” holds me accountable to “show the goods” .
Every month I post my Reads wrap-up to social media, and throughout the month I post my reviews to my website’s Reader Blog and Goodreads. By creating a space to hold my reviews, I am asking for help to keep me on track as well.
There’s so much joy in reading.
As a writer, it’s also so important to read — both in your genre and beyond it — to stay inspired.
I’ve done so much research, without even thinking of it as “research” via the 35 books I’ve read for the year thus far. And I intend to do so much more!
So even if it means my Writing side will suffer for awhile, my Reading side has been neglected far too long and needs a little love.
If you’d like your book to be considered for a Review (at no cost, and also no guarantee I’ll choose it, or that it’ll be 100% positive!) read full Policy here, and then fill out the Review Request form here.
If you’d like to donate to my Reader Blog, to help me continue supporting other writers, you can do so via my Kofi page here.
You can also check out my other services for writers here:
I’m a web designer and I love dabbling in code, but I’m far from a developer. In the past, I’ve managed to avoid any serious web security issues… and then my last week hit me like a train.
It started on a website I recently rebuilt. I breathed life back into this passion project, so when I had to write a bio, I thought I’d link to it.
That was the first time I realised there was a malicious redirect on the domain.
Okay, fine. I’m not really *using* the site, so I reported it and went about my business.
I’ve had experiences in the past when I get something similar, report it to the host, they recommend a security firm, I ignore it, they send me the list of infected files, and I put aside some time to do cleanup, get my site back online, and move on with my life.
But after the hack on a “passion project” site that I didn’t see as urgent, it soon cross-contaminated all the other sites on my hosting account… 7 of them, in total. Didn’t know that could happen? Well, it could. It did.
…Including this site, my beloved, beautiful author website that is the central hub of my writing life.
I started cleanup… and spent at least 4 days trying my best, but it was too much. I eventually called it quits and threw in the towel. After 10 years of avoiding it… I rolled over and said “OK” to the security company. I chalked it up to the cost of doing business.
So now I’m roped in forever and ever, amen.
Side note: I’m pretty sure the security company has an entire department dedicated to destroying sites so that they can then swoop in and be the saviour… but anyway, the fact is: I got hacked.
So after handing over the funds, I spent the next 24 hours on pins and needles, contacting customer support for both my host and the security partner at least 20-30 times in total via phone, email and online chat systems.
After the scan and repair were complete, the security company reported that over 20,000 files across all my sites were infected.
Probably for the best that I didn’t do a manual clean myself… I would have no hair left!
So after I ponied up the dough, my sites were back up within a day. Phew. And then… it happened again — the very next day!!! What??? Apparently this particular hack has a high reinfection rate.
I’m still waiting on them to tie up some loose ends and install some firewalls, but at least — at long last, all my sites are back up for the moment.
The problem?
It happened at the worst time possible. My book was on tour.
For my book tour, I had loads of promo posts linking to my website… a website that, when loaded during the malware hack, redirected about 10 times to weird URLS, threw up robot images, and then flung out code saying “winner!” with javascript pop-ups. Good Lord. It was a throwback to the 90s era of websites. It was… horrendous.
But the fact is, because I had been cheap for 10+ years, a hack crushed my book tour, not to mention my soul.
I admit my websites haven’t really made me a lot of money, but they are still valuable to me. And this hack happened at a point in time when it was VERY valuable to me!
I don’t know what it is about the naive mindset of someone who “just puts up a website” or has “hobby” sites online.
We assume that we are “small fries” that no one would target, but just like any other malicious person whether in real life or online: all they need is the opportunity.
Your site could be worth nothing to anyone, but once there is a vulnerability, it can be exploited. Just for fun. People really are THAT evil.
I should mention that in 2009, during the last week of my Master’s dissertation while my computer never turned off as I raced to the finish line of the deadline, my Mac finally called it quits. I wept and fell to my knees over a project I had bled for. Thankfully I still pulled off a good grade, but oh… the HORROR!
I should also mention that in 2018, it also took me another severe laptop crash and losing a huge chunk of files, for me to agree to the monthly iCloud charge I still pay that I literally don’t feel — it’s a few bucks. If I don’t look at my credit card bill, I forget I even pay it.
Yeah. I’m that person. Gotta burn to learn!
It doesn’t hurt you, until it happens to you.
As an author, I certainly learnt it with all my work-in-progress files… I have a zillion emails of files I’ve emailed to myself, just to make sure there is always a copy!
I’ve learnt my lesson, trust me.
As much as I hate being held hostage by the security company, it is worth it, to have the peace of mind.
And to all my fellow writers out there, working on your book babies or managing your online sites… please, please, please learn from my mistakes and just spend the damn money upfront!
Them: “I’ll read and review your book, and post it on my feed.”
Me: “Oh, nice, thanks!”
Them: “Here are my prices…”
Me: “Wait, what?”
They wouldn’t dare approach a big-time author asking to be paid to review and promote their book, but indie/self-published authors like me are fair game.
First, a disclaimer:
There was once a point in my author journey where I balked at even having to give my books away for free.
Now, 2 and a half years wiser, I have seen the benefit of running free promotions to promote sell-through of your other books (which I documented here).
Apart from giving away almost 4000 books for free via KDP & other promos, I’ve also shopped my book around to book clubs and to book/blog tours where they handle the service of generating some buzz and inviting reviewers, but it’s voluntary with no guarantees of even a single review.
…But paying someone DIRECTLY to review your book is quite another matter.
It’s pretty clear that Amazon frowns on paid reviews, but it’s a little sketchy when it comes to the arena of book promotion.
Bookstagram reviewers are a middle ground: they usually offer package deals with promotion and author interviews, with reviews included.
It’s not a bad way to make money, if you’re a voracious reader. And I’m sure a lot of them have been responsible for a huge uptick in sales for some authors.
But there’s not a lot of tracking provided. Some may share some statistics via screenshots of past authors happy with the service, or their activity on a post, etc… but these are not verifiable (anyone can mock up something in Photoshop, and bots can generate likes), and most only expect you to make a decision based on the amount of followers they have — whether or not their followers are even your target market (chances are, they’re not).
Furthermore, they can’t promise you any amount of sales (or even “likes” on the post) and there’s a big chance you can throw money at it and get exactly zero back in return.
That’s the same that could be said for most types of marketing, sure, but Instagram has given a whole new realm of possibility for all the “entrepreneurs” out there… and that’s the problem.
But the worst — the absolute worst of it, is that if you actually read through some of these Bookstagram “reviews”, it gets glaringly evident that in many cases THEY HAVE NOT READ THE F**KING BOOK. They’ve checked the blurb, skimmed some reviews, maybe read the first few pages, and then threw together a generic paragraph or two that is just a slap in the face to any author who has actually poured his or her soul into their work.
And THAT is my biggest problem of all.
Don’t solicit authors. Just don’t. (Particularly 10 seconds after a follow, when you haven’t even given a proper look at their feed or read a thing about their books. Just saying.)
Unless you see an author post about “Looking to promote my books, please DM me with your prices”. If they say that openly, then by all means: COME THROUGH!
If you do want to make a business of this bookish life, create a website with all your packages and then point to that link in your profile. That leaves it up to the author to seek you out.
If you’re hungry for work, perhaps post in your feed or story “Authors – special reduced rates for packages” and see what bites you get.
You can also be kind and offer a range of services that includes free options, e.g. partnership “If I write you a review, please post about me and get others to follow”.
A little love goes a long way, and if you build up that love and trust among authors, they might be the ones begging you to promote them and eager to pay.
I’m not saying Bookstagram reviewers won’t get you more exposure or more sales. Not at all. Some are valid, and many are excellent at what they do.
Me personally… I’m hanging onto those purse strings. My reasons:
Every time someone reaches out (before they mention the price list) it’s always about flattery: “your books look great, I would love to promote you” etc. etc. — but if it’s a paid promotion, flattery immediately becomes disingenuous.
It is hard to say that someone is GENUINELY interested in my book, if they are only going to read and review it if I pay them.
I just don’t need that kind of convoluted energy in a potential reviewer.
I love getting reviews. You can check out some of my faves here:
I also love writing reviews. You can visit my Reader Blog here.
I do not charge writers to review their books. You can see my Review Policy here.
Reviews are important. Hella important. But they should always be voluntary. And free.
I think that those who claim to be “voracious readers” who “love to support writers” are missing the big elephant in the room:
If you love reading and you love writers, buy their books.
(And if you’re a writer that wants reviews, sure — send over a free copy and hope you get a review.)
BUT don’t randomly solicit a writer to send you their book for free, and THEN pay you to write a review!
Unless you’re able to guarantee that this writer is definitely going to get AT LEAST the investment they put into you, in sales… you’re not helping. The fact remains:
If you truly are a voracious reader, and you come across a book you like, you’ll buy it.
Especially if it’s just a couple bucks, or even FREE on Kindle Unlimited, like all my books in my “Hart & Cole” series are.
…And if it moves you enough to want to write a review, you will.
…Yes. It is that simple.
And almost everyone responds: “Ah well, that’s for the best, probably not your target reader anyway.”
…But is that even the point?
I myself have some author friends whose books I haven’t read, but I’m not talking about the regular friends/acquaintances. I’m not even talking about your “circle”, the adult people in your life directly around you, i.e. parents, siblings, best friends.
I’m talking about the person you share a bed and a life with, and with whom you’ve perhaps even meshed DNA in the form of offspring. That’s right: your significant other.
Now, if my significant other wrote a book, of course I’ll read it. I’m a writer, and I’m a reader, so that’s easy to commit to long before he pens a single word. (And, in my case, he’ll probably rely on my help to write it.)
But many people just aren’t readers, so that is the excuse: “I don’t really read” or “I don’t read your genre” or something to that effect. And as writers we feel a twinge of hurt, but we let it go.
Recently, an author friend told me she was so pissed off with the fact that the collective “WE” as authors just “lets it go”. She said:
In this day and age with so many opportunities to read on the go, unless you’re actually insanely busy running an entire country, or perhaps intellectually challenged or f*ing illiterate, there is no excuse to NOT read my book.
I’m not sure I agree with her 100%, but for the sake of argument, let’s discuss.
Firstly, let’s stick to fiction. Of course there are excellent non-fiction books out there, but that genre gets sticky when you consider the nuances.
For example: sure, I’d read my SO’s self-help book. But if he penned a History textbook, or a Math text? Er, well… um, probably not.
On the flipside, the argument may be:
“Well, my History/Math textbook may help someone; your fiction book won’t.”
But… won’t it?
I write fiction that goes deep, as just about any one of my reviews will say. People may at times dislike my characters, but they appreciate what I put into them. They appreciate the story, and in many cases the story stays with them and even influences how they see the world around them.
Even if there is no lesson to be learnt, a fiction book can still move you and brighten your day, or change your outlook, or provoke you to think about something that wouldn’t have tickled your fancy otherwise. Or it could even be just mindless entertainment, if that’s what you’re looking for. The point is: fiction is still important.
So, assuming you’ve written a fictional book that you poured your heart into, and the love of your life still has exactly zero interest in it…?
As my author friend ranted to her poor husband:
Do you even really know me, if you haven’t read my book?
What I love about the genre I write in (women’s fiction/romance) is that there are mostly women writers, and women have their ways of expressing themselves in their writing that they may not be able to in real life.
Of course this is a very broad statement and there are many exceptions, but statistics indicate that men are more visual, and need actual porn; whereas a woman can pick up a romance novel (not even erotica!) and have the same experience of mental and physical stimulation.
When we as women write, we can let our juices flow — creative and otherwise. Our swashbuckling heroes are the best characteristics of men we hope to one day meet (or in very RARE cases, are lucky to actually have), our heroines are girls we admire and one day hope to be. And usually, somewhere along the way, we slip in experiences from past or even current lovers.
Writers tend to pull from real-life; that’s just a fact. “Write what you know” and all that jazz. I myself have admitted to including a scene with elements of my own history and I know that IF the person ever reads it, he will know IMMEDIATELY where the inspiration came from.
But here’s the thing… I’m sure he’ll never read it.
…Which is probably why I wrote it in, in the first place.
So, back to my friend ranting about her literate-but-lazy hubby who can’t be arsed to read her book:
Honey, are you sure you really WANT him to read your book?
Being a writer, there is a “safe place” with our books where any random person can assume or guess at what parts are fact or fiction.
But if that person who knows you best (or is supposed to) actually picks up your book you’ve been screaming at them to read… what might they find?
It may not even be the biggest part of your plot that he/she focuses on. It’ll likely be some throwaway element you didn’t even consider while you were writing… a reference to one of your characters doing that thing he does that you hate with a passion. Or a description of something in your past that he didn’t realise until reading your book.
One of the common threads of any book or TV show that features a writer is that the connections to reality are always there. Sure, “Friends” with Phoebe’s loose characterisation was hilarious, but it was on point. And, remember “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life” with Lorelai’s recount of hers and Rory’s life that Rory preferred be kept private? Or how about “Private Practice” and Violet’s page-turner that upset every single one of her friends?
…Yeah. It happens.
Even if your intentions are good, or you think you’ve written something STARKLY different from real life, there’s usually something there, a kernel of truth that no one may pick up on — EXCEPT your closest loved one.
So… as I told my writer friend: whether he’s your target reader or not, perhaps it’s still best he hasn’t read your book. Trust me, darling.
Your book is the rawest piece of your soul. And sometimes, you need to keep that shroud of anonymity for your own relationship’s survival!
Who they are, why they do what they do, what makes them tick. They’ve been with me for the better part of the last two decades, and I know them so intimately.
But if you ask me about myself, I hesitate.
A post I read today on a fellow writer’s blog mentioned that she has a tendency to shrink into the shadows rather than promote herself. She just wants to focus on the books.
“What does it matter who wrote them?” she asks. “Once you enjoy them, why care about me?”
And to a point, I agree with her. I myself tend to push my books out ahead, and hide behind them. I don’t really want to answer too many questions about myself. Let the readers assume, right?
But on the other hand, for the last few books I read that I REALLY enjoyed, I must admit that I sought out who the writers were. I stalked them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I checked out their websites. I subscribed to whatever there was to subscribe to. I became an online fan.
All this to say, I’m being a little hypocritical by hiding myself.
You have to be vulnerable to connect with others.
So I thought, for a change, I would write a blog post about myself.
I state this with some irony because it’s my go-to fact, despite the fact that sometimes I feel very un-Trini. Of course there is no one thing that represents Trinidad, but what we showcase to the world is along the lines of: beautiful Carnival, great beaches, vibrant music, and an island paradise — with some politics, corruption and crime thrown in, of course.
I’ve never felt connected to many “staples” of my country. Sure, I love a good pot of Trini food (and I will likely die without my doubles) but beyond that, I can live on the outside. I have, before, and perhaps someday will again. I want to travel and see the world, and I intend to!
Still, there’s something about belonging, that no one can take away from you. A sigh of relief, a release of breath as the plane touches the runway: HOME.
There’s just something intangible about knowing you are owed some respect and resources just for being born somewhere. No matter where I go, no one can take that from me.
I don’t know how else to be. As a child, at school, I always had to do the best. I was top of the class. I got skipped. I was Headgirl. I was President of things, Chairperson of things, blah blah. I was Supergirl, academically. But it takes a mental toll.
I was a national scholarship winner, and while I was studying I was so stressed and obsessed with doing the best at everything that I didn’t fully enjoy the amazing opportunity I had to study abroad. I drove myself to the brink of physical and mental illness, and that level of stress never really goes away, even as an adult. I still struggle today, because back then I simply did not enjoy life and take advantage of the full experience.
It is my greatest regret — not enjoying life a bit more, in my youth.
Not living in the moment. Not understanding the importance of stopping to treasure those little moments. Life is about so much more than just book smarts. Now that I’m a mom, I plan to make sure my son has a good balance of both.
I chose an optional course in web journalism, and fell for web development. I fell hard.
Websites are the perfect mix of creativity (design and layout), writing (content creation) and the simplicity of perfection.
Code languages have to be precise. A single dot can throw everything off. A pixel can make a difference.
I loved it, loved it, loved it. I still do. I’m not formally trained as a web developer (maybe someday I will be), but in the meanwhile I’m enjoying fiddling with code, and I get excited whenever I troubleshoot and figure out something myself. That’s a special kind of joy that can’t be put into words.
For example, “The bomb exploded. Her red, pouty lips fell open and her green steely eyes narrowed as she flipped her blond hair back.”
Come on. Just… come on. Surely there was another moment in time to describe the character! Who cares about what she looks like, post-bomb? Seriously! Seriously!
My own practice is to slip it in casually while describing something else, and to make the sentence about much, much more than just the description itself.
Here are two examples with my own practice of “world-building with description”:
Mind you, I’m sure I make mistakes myself, and every single time I re-read my books I find something to change, some typo, a misplaced comma, SOMETHING.
But I’m appalled at the sheer AMOUNT of errors that exist in the world around me.
I am annoyed when people consistently don’t re-read their emails and frequently have terrible errors in them.
What drives me the most crazy though, are errors on signs of any kind, but most specifically billboards. Anywhere where there are literally less than 50 words, and someone didn’t care enough to spellcheck!
Yeah, I’m that girl. I wish I wasn’t, but I can’t help it.
I’m passionate about words! But I guess that’s a good thing for a writer, right?
I’m a little ashamed to admit it… but… I barely read any books last year.
Literally, less than a handful. Off the top of my head, I can recollect maybe three or four. But that’s it.
Blame the pandemic, blame the baby and the newborn-newmama black hole of despair funk, blame just my utter laziness. The fact is: reading novels was nowhere near my priority list. (And, as a self-published writer, it should be!)
There was just way too much noise in my head to get into a good book.
Mind you, I read a HUUUUUUGGGGGEEEE amount of online news, more than I have ever consumed in my entire life! And I binge-watched a fair deal of Netflix shows.
But one of my favourite pastimes — curling up with a book… went largely out the window.
This year, now that my revised Book 1 is launched and out of the way, I’ve committed myself to getting back into the “writer girl” mode.
Part of that means I need to take a fresh look at the market, which means *drumroll, please!*… reading.
So I downloaded a boatload of books, and I got cracking.
A few days later, I’m just as disappointed as I was the last time I did this en masse… which was… you guessed it: last year, around the same time!
There’s something about the “New Year” that drives us all to think we can reinvent the world all of a sudden based on the arbitrary whims of the calendar.
There were a few TERRIBLE books in the bunch, but for the most part the books weren’t bad. Some were pretty good (and I’ll be posting reviews on my website, when I get a chance). But for the most part, they just weren’t… well, for lack of a better word: original.
I’m on what seems like a zillion Facebook writer groups, and I have found them useful to keep a finger on the beat of what’s happening in the writer world.
No one singular thing works for everyone to achieve huge success, but there is a general trend of the more prolific, successful writers encouraging newbie writers to “write to market” — look at your competition, crank out something similar, make the cover and blurb shine, market it, and then watch the money roll in.
It’s extremely useful advice, and it’s helped a lot of writers turn their hobby into a full-time career, because they are aggressively targeting a market with expectations.
But it also means that… well, in a nutshell, I’ve read basically the same book by different authors, over and over and over again.
While I’m thrilled at my mediocre success thus far (because I write for love, not money, as I don’t do this full-time), it would be great to achieve massive success myself.
And I know that if I put my mind to it, I can do it too — I’m not a dumbass, and fortunately I have pretty decent skills in writing, editing, Photoshop, web development, social media, and just general “internet” skills that any self-published writer needs.
But… could I live with myself, if my writing passion was dampened and I churned out a “cookie-cutter” novel?
It’s gotten to such a state that writers now advertise exactly what to expect on the cover and in the title:
And some go even further and tell you in the blurb:
…etc. etc. etc. etc.
Now, of course, some readers like this, and prefer it all to be laid out bare before they even turn the first page… but where is the mystery?
Maybe I’m old school, but one of my favourite memories of childhood was browsing books in the public library, trying to decide which to pick — looking at the cover and blurb and making my own decision about whether this book would rock my world.
Nowadays, you don’t even need to get past the title, in most instances, to make that decision.
The categorisation on the cover tells you exactly what to expect. You open the book, it dives straight into the action, and by the end of the first chapter you’re 99% sure of how the book will progress and eventually end. There are very, very few surprises.
So… back to me. I know my books are awesome. I love my characters, I put a lot into them, and my readers appreciate that!
A quick glance through my reviews (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3) give me affirmation that my writing style and the decision to stick to my guns have produced a whopper of a book series that rocked their world.
But… it rocked their world because it was DIFFERENT. Because they went in, not knowing what to expect, and got carried away by the current of that river of words and emotions that I poured into my books.
My problem is that not having that “mass appeal” of the “cookie-cutter” template means significantly less readers.
Still, what I have always loved about my characters in my Hart & Cole series, is that they are fabulously flawed. The “hero” cheats. The “heroine” is bitchy. Their parenting styles are atrocious, at times. They are terrible friends, sometimes. They are inappropriate. They make mistakes that can make your head spin.
These aren’t people you swoon for. But they’re people you probably know.
They’re people you feel for. People you root for.
They’re people whose stories I want to keep writing.
I don’t know how to write anything else… I don’t know how to “create” characters, when mine have so seamlessly created themselves and begged to be put onto the page.
Maybe someday I’ll write to market, but for now I’m really hoping that there’s still a place in the world for original, unpredictable “real-life” romance.
The pre-order is now live and available here on Amazon in time for the release on January 1st, 2021. I’m also just about ready with the print version, which I’ll publish in a few days. Here’s the new trailer:
I’m excited. I know it’s a bit silly to be excited over a book that I’ve already published, but it’s been quite a journey.
“Climbing The Walls” was my “first pancake”.
The first launch was in July 2018, so the January 1st, 2021 date will be about 2 and a half years since I first became a published author! Crazy, right? Where did the time go?
I’ve learnt a lot since then, and spent months in writer agony wondering if I’d made a huge mistake.
In retrospect, I finally admitted to myself that I may have gone a little gung-ho on the first pancake. I was so excited about the process of FINALLY publishing the book I’d been sitting on for so many years, that I didn’t research and fully understand the market beforehand.
The result was an epic book that — though many readers LOVED, they did comment that it was a bit long-winded.
Took me awhile, but I finally decided to give the people what they want.
I chopped it down from 550+ pages to 385, the exact length of the other two in the series. And since I’m anal, I’m pretty sure that length (385 for print) is going to be my set point for other books going forward.
It’s a nice balance to get you DEEP into the characters’ emotions, without taking up your entire week or more to wade through.
And I’m proud of my new, sleek book baby.
It’s the same book but just so much better, now that I looked at it with a critical writer’s eye and decided to CHOP, CHOP, CHOP!
I’m still sorting out some of the last-minute hiccups over the next couple of weeks, so it’ll be a quiet launch. I still need to unpublish the old one, and link the new one to the series, and transfer my reviews.
I also haven’t booked any promos or book tours as yet, but all of that in time to come.
After initial feedback about the book length, I held myself back from promoting it in some avenues since some bloggers couldn’t commit to reading it. So now I’m a lot more comfortable offering up the shorter version for their enjoyment.
Hell, I’m a lot more comfortable offering up the shorter version for my OWN enjoyment.
Overall, I’m super-pleased I decided to do this. It was an epic job to whittle down my first “book baby” to a sleek, no-fluff new edition that will now be leading the series, but I’m so glad I did.
I’m also thrilled with the new cover, which now has more in common with the rest of the series and also gives away more of what the book is about.
And, of course, I’m also adoring the miracle that I was able to pack in the same story but in a much shorter length.
I’ve grown so much as a writer since I first hit “Publish”. This new book is like a brand new me.
No regrets.
Much love to any fellow writers out there who are knee-deep in the “REVAMP” of an already-published book baby. It takes even more out of you than the first version! Keep your head up, and love yourself enough to grow and adapt.
You need to love your writer self, you need to love your stories, and you need to own your book babies.
For me, the best part of this experience is that now that I’m more comfortable with Book 1, I can finally, finally FINALLY settle down and focus on NEW books in the series. I’m hoping Book 4 will see the light of day by 2021.
In the meanwhile, if you haven’t read “Climbing The Walls” as yet, or you enjoyed it and you’re in the mood for a re-read, be sure to check it out. Pre-order for January 1st, 2021!
There’s something about that sentence that has a huge sigh of relief accompanying it. It’s a big step. Something’s happening.
Well, in my personal life, not a lot has been happening, as my health issues have taken priority.
But I’m recuperating… just in some pain, with very little movement, and far too much time to reflect.
I’ll be off work for a few weeks. I’ll be off “super-mommy duty” for a few weeks.
I can’t hold my baby. That’s a sobering thought.
But there is a good side to all of this, and I will emerge from this “downtime” better for it.
I should use this time for something positive. I should use this time to RESET.
Book 1’s revamp has me in that “reset” mode, and I’m trying my best to hit that “reset” button soon.
Over the past month, I’ve made some pretty big steps, even though they may not have felt like it at the time.
Here are a few worth mentioning:
Now, that isn’t nearly everything that’s needed for a launch. It’s just a few tiny steps towards that day. But I’m taking it one thing at a time.
I gave myself a nice long lead time because I know it’s a zillion small things, and it’s just little old me.
Some writers — even the self-published ones like me — have an entire team to do all this small stuff.
Some do it on their own, but badly.
I’m trying to do it all, and trying to do it all WELL.
I’m fortunate to have some “extra” skills besides writing — being able to create a website, and do some design stuff, that is awesome. Many writers break the bank on this stuff.
I’m cheap, so by default I need to be up to the task of those “extras”!
Well, once I review the proof copy of the print version, I still have to take my time and create the e-version.
It’s always better to tackle that AFTER the print version is as clean as possible. I learnt this the hard way — when I used to fix every typo multiple times in many versions!
Once the e-version is ready, I can upload that to Amazon KDP, publish them both, and then market the hell out of it.
There are so many ways to throw money behind your book, if you have the budget and the time.
I’ll book a bunch of newsletters, flash it around every Facebook reader group I can find, run some promos, shout it from the rooftops.
Maybe I’ll try to get onto another podcast, like the one with Ella “Author Like a Boss”. Or another book review tour.
I’m exhausted just thinking about all of it.
I love the writing process, but the publishing process can be traumatising to your spirit.
And this time around, I have to remember my Author Footprint and revisit everywhere I’ve been to “update” it with my new version.
For the love of it.
Because I owe it to myself to have the story out there, the way I want it to be.
And because I’m ready to move on from Book 1, my first book baby, which took the most out of me.
I’m ready to evolve as a writer, to “republish” that new version that pained me to create. To grow up and realise that every book is its own entity, but sometimes you need to take a hit to your writer ego for the greater good.
Because here’s the thing… once I’m done with my revised Book 1, once that is out of the way, I can turn my attention on the unfinished stories in my head.
The unfinished characters, just waiting for me to revisit them.
Despite the physical pain and the emotional upheaval I’m going through now as my body and brain go through this much-needed process of healing, I know I need this “downtime” to refocus.
To do better.
To RESET.
I can’t believe it. Yup, my first book baby turned 2 years old recently, on July 28th.
In all fairness, I was hard-core for about 9 months after publishing, and then my zeal quickly tapered off when other life things took priority. So there’s been a long gap of doing very, very little writer-wise.
It took me awhile to get back to a project I had promised myself to do: editing and re-publishing Book 1 of my series, this time with a better plan for the re-release.
Well, for one thing, I didn’t become an overnight success with such an unwieldy tome.
Of course, publishing a novelette wouldn’t guarantee any more success, but I know that the size was off-putting to some readers — particularly book bloggers who have far too much on their plate to put that kind of faith in a new writer.
I’ve learnt so much since then, and grown so much as a writer even though I was “dormant” for part of the time.
I also read a lot, and found that there’s a sweet spot with reading — you want a book that feels like a full story, but doesn’t take over your entire life.
Honestly, nothing fundamental.
You’d think that cutting from 555 pages to 385 pages (170 pages) would change the entire direction of the story, since that length of the difference is more than some people write for an entire book!
But… no.
That’s the beauty of editing. If you’re really, really, good at it, it can be seamless enough so that it’s barely noticeable.
I’m a good editor. Scratch that. I’m a flipping fantastic editor.
Problem is: you should NEVER edit yourself. I know this, though I did it again anyway.
Maybe I’m a different person two years later, though. Certainly, reading it over two years later, I saw a lot of things that irked me because they could have been so less verbose.
First, I evened it out a bit. I collapsed chapters into each other that seemed natural to fit together, and then looked for super long ones and cut those.
I got rid of a lot of white space, knowing that my “first pass” would look tight and busy, but then I could keep cutting a line here or there in the final edit.
I just finished this “first pass” a couple days ago, so I still have more editing to do so that chapters don’t end without sufficient breathing room.
Layout is a slippery beast — you want to be on top of that.
And I write a lot of dialogue, so that’s what I cut. A LOT of it. Entire scenes of it. Or huge chunks of it. From everywhere. I gave myself rules as I went along, like:
…and so on.
If you’re disciplined like that, you’ll get there eventually.
It took me a few weeks altogether. I started when I was on my super-megatrip cruise vacation in April-May 2019, where I had loads of free time with long sea days across the Atlantic, so I managed to ditch the bulk of it at 80-100 pages.
Then a trickle here and there where I ditched a page here and a page there over the course of several months (pregnancy and a new baby is a fabulous excuse for procrastinating!), and then finally a last burst of a push from 411 to 385 in the last few weeks since I moved out from where I was living and into my new home where I finally have the mental peace to focus on writing again.
So… yeah. It’s been QUITE the journey, but I’m here.
My 555 debut book monstrosity is now slim and sexy and a measly 385 pages long.
Why 385, you ask?
Well, because that was the number I had settled on for my other two books — Pandora’s Poison and Pandora’s Price. At the time, I kept those two at the exact page count because it is meant to be a 2-part read. So it seemed like a good number to aim for with Book 1 as well.
Plus, 385 is that aforementioned “sweet spot” for me.
Now that I’ve hit my desired page count, it’s not over just yet. Here’s what still lies ahead:
I still have some more tightening to do to free up some white space for the print version. I ideally like my chapters to have at least a half or quarter page of breathing room in between. So there’s still quite a few lines to cut.
Once I’m properly there with the print version, I have to set everything up for the e-version. This is time-consuming and painstaking. I just hope I’ve remembered the steps to link the chapters and add the cover and a million more things.
I just commissioned it a couple of days ago. I’m so excited. I’m using a similar image (same woman, same photoshoot) but adding some elements to show what the story is about.
You need this once you significantly edit a book’s page count. I requested this yesterday and should get it by next week. Whoop.
Gosh, I hope they do. It would be a shame to lose them. I hope my edit still counts as the same book, to them. It would be painful to start from scratch.
Sayonara, sucker. Your new version is slimmer and sexier now.
Yeah, I’m not looking forward to this. This is the absolute worst part.
Currently targeting January 1st, so I have a few months to plan properly.
Sigh. Yeah. Did I mention I hate this part?
I made a baby. Then, the world imploded.
Of course, that’s not exactly how it happened — or rather, it is, but it’s not a cause-and-effect type of sentence but just a factual one.
It’s been a whole lot of crazy in my head, and I’ve abandoned social media for the most part of the last few months. Well, the last year or so, if we’re being brutally honest — save for a few posts scattered here and there.
I’ve never been the overly outgoing type, but pregnancy and the early trenches of motherhood drove me into a deep funk of silence. Then, just when I was ready to emerge… coronavirus knocked me back into my hole.
Now, to be fair, no time is a good time for a pandemic, but still… yowza!
I never thought I would live through a moment in history like I am now. I’ve always been aware of critical global events with a kind of fascinated detachment:
Interested enough, affected somehow, but not viscerally touched.
While I’ve been largely privileged to not have this pandemic devastate my entire world, there were some harsh realities that it brought into focus as it mercilessly touched others around me and altered the course of my life plans for the short-term and long-term.
So that’s the real world, and then there’s the fantasy world of my books.
Being a writer can sometimes be a wonderful way to escape reality and live in “book world” with your characters, getting away from it all as you occupy your mind with the innermost needs of the nonexistent.
And, here’s the problem: I haven’t been writing.
Part of it is that as a new mom, I’ve been struggling to get time to do the basic human tasks like eating, sleeping, and showering (exercising is a bonus!) and then to combine it all with working from home with a baby.
But the even bigger part of is, if I’m being brutally honest with myself, is that I’m afraid to write.
When the world is spinning crazily on its axis into God alone knows, and the future looks scary at best, I don’t trust the noise in my head to be productive.
Instead, I add to it even more noise — engaging in endless discourse and speculation with anyone who will listen, and staying up late interminably scrolling through Facebook, halfway teetering to news-heavy threads to stay informed and then careening into the peak of silliness with the black hole that is memes, viral videos and animal gifs.
…Gotta keep that noggin busy, so it doesn’t focus on the financial instability of my little family, the crushing fears of the future — not to mention the ever-present, incessant paranoia of doing everything wrong as a new mama.
It’s not a comfortable head space to be in. No one’s is, these days, I’m sure. I’m privy to the problems of friends around the world with whom I check in, as the days crawl by — everything from sudden joblessness, home-schooling horrors, high-risk paranoia, lockdown discomfort and boredom, and general unease.
I know I’m fortunate, I know the entire world is suffering and most of them are far worse off than me. It doesn’t stop the noise in my own head, though.
Usually, writing helps clear that noise — but getting to that space where I’m comfortable enough to write again seems insurmountable, at times.
Writing can break your spirit. Certainly, the post-writing process is agonising at best. I’ve been largely distant from it lately, and every so often I check in and I’m surprised to see that little bump of page reads or sales: the waxing and waning of that yellow bar of validity.
It’s heartening to know my books are out there, and devastating to worry if I will ever finish any more books. My characters’ stories aren’t finished. I owe them so much, and I’ve failed them.
But writing has saved me before, and I have faith it will again.
I just have to hang in there and wait for its magic to find me.
Okay, so I probably need to back up a bit. There’s been a long, long silence here… and for good reason.
At the start of the year, I welcomed my son into the world. My new year’s baby. My miracle baby.
…And yes, I was pretty quiet about it until after the fact. Which is rare, when you’re striving to be a successful writer and maintain a prominent social media presence.
Quite simply, I wanted to keep that precious part of my life away from social media.
…Though, to be honest, I was fairly “mum” (pun intended) on the topic in my personal life as well. It wasn’t until late in the pregnancy that my work colleagues and some friends found out, and many only found out when I sent a photo of him from my hospital bed! (Not to mention those who STILL haven’t gotten the memo!)
When something is so precious to me, silence is my only recourse.
In the same way that I am reluctant to share a really rough “work-in-progress” of my writing, I didn’t want to share my newest “work-in-progress” blooming from within.
I needed to work in silence, putting up a barrier to protect myself from the public eye so I could focus on the important task at hand.
You see, there’s always going to be someone in your audience who may not have your best interests at heart. Or the well-intentioned ones that just rub you the wrong way (conflicting or needless advice, birth horror stories, and the like!).
Once you put something out there, you don’t know the kind of energy you invite.
…And speaking of energy, that was the other reason for my silence: I simply wasn’t writing.
I wasn’t on my website or my social media channels. I wasn’t running promotions. I wasn’t religiously logging in to my sales dashboard to see if I made a few pennies that day.
Suddenly, being a mommy was way more critical than being a writer… just as I suspected it would be, which is why I pushed myself to finish the first three books in my Hart & Cole series before I headed down the motherhood path.
I had to “birth” my books before I could birth anything else.
Being a published writer was a lifelong goal since I was a tot myself, and I didn’t want to be one of those writers who let circumstances derail me from that goal.
At the same time, I totally understand those who struggle to balance family life with writing demands.
Creating and nurturing life is tiring and requires an enormous amount of energy, and it bodes the same for breathing life into the stories you create.
It’s only been a month for me, and I can tell you: parenthood is no joke. It’s hard work and it’s not always glorious or cute. And no one wants to be so tired from life that writing feels like a chore!
I’ve always known that writing is a hectic stress on my body and brain, as I’ve written about on my blog earlier. So last year, once I knew my baby was on the way, I made a decision and took a break from my book babies.
Thank God I did — I couldn’t deal with preggy pains and hormones on top of the rollercoaster of writer emotions… (to the mamas that do, you’re my heroines!)
I also needed to preserve all that crazy writer energy and stamina — you know, the adrenaline that keeps you up at night on a million websites researching how best to market your masterpiece!
I now had to turn to my new obsession: building a baby.
My paranoia drove me to the height of late-night panic sessions about whether I was doing everything right for my little one. I learnt far more than I ever thought I would about the process of childbearing and childbirth — far more that I (or any sane person) would ever need to know, and thankfully most of it wasn’t necessary: in the end I held a healthy, beautiful baby boy in my arms.
So now that I’ve birthed THIS baby, I’m hoping I can soon go back to my book babies that I abandoned last year. I’m hoping they forgive me and welcome me back with open arms, because I have so much more to write. I’ve missed my characters. I’ve missed my writer self. I’ve missed that crazy high of being possessed by a scene, emotionally wrought by my own words!
Now, I just hope THIS baby can make room to allow me to work on my book babies again!
I’ve learnt so much since I first published, and grown so much as a writer AND as a person. I’ve learnt to rejoice in the triumphs of praise, and also to take criticism to heart to improve my craft.
In fact, I’d hoped to launch the revised, slimmer version of this book today, but that self-imposed deadline had to be pushed back. I’m not going to stress about it, though. I’ve got some personal battles going on lately, and right now I need to put “Sacha-the-person” ahead of “Sacha-the-writer”… and that’s okay.
I know that once I’m back to full steam, I’ll write something AMAZING again. Until then, I’m satisfied with what I’ve accomplished so far.
3 books in 8 months was a huge feat, and I’m thrilled to have actually made money from my writing… and so humbled that I have fans that appreciate my books, and are looking forward to reading more.
And this book is where it all started. So I’m SUPER proud of this first book baby.
She was my first. She made me a published writer.
So happy birthday, book baby! ??????????
I’m happy to say now that I felt my recent funk hugely lifted with the news that my first Author Interview Podcast aired! Here it is:
Thanks so much to Ella Barnard & Author Like a Boss!
Lately I’ve been feeling like I don’t want to write — which reminded me of earlier times in my youth where, as I shared on Instagram:
“I’ve been silent because I was afraid of what I would write if I did write.”
But writing has helped, and I know it’s saved me in the past and will again if I let it.
That said, listening to my interview was surprisingly uplifting.
As it was recorded a few months ago, it captured a different phase in my life just before my recent funk, and hearing my positive thoughts and these deep-set beliefs about the writing and publishing process was like… wow.
An interview captures a moment in time, a snapshot of your brain… and reviewing that at a different time can be enlightening.
And I do genuinely believe that every day I get to keep calling myself a writer, that’s a success.
I do genuinely believe that you have to set realistic, measurable goals and climb that mountain slowly and steadily to make sure you get there, and not just run up and tumble down in early defeat.
I do genuinely believe in that “reader high” I’ve left readers/fans with, and want to keep doing that. Which means I’ve got to keep writing.
One of the most pertinent things I said in the interview was about putting your plans one step at a time, rather than trying to see the whole picture all at once.
Get your blinkers on and put one task in front of you, and focus on that.
It’s a timely reminder for myself, because I need to do just that. I have a whole heap of tasks to do in terms of my writer life so I’m going to take my own advice and just tackle one thing at a time.
I’m getting out of my funk and putting my writer’s cap back on — and again thanks so much to Ella Barnard for my first podcast interview, which you can listen to here:
And, well… I’m a little ashamed to say that my favourite part of my vacation was the DISTANCE from my books.
Writer burnout is real. Your books consume you.
My book babies have possessed me almost constantly since I first released Book 1 on July 28, 2018.
From there I dived head-first into the downward spiral of a newbie indie self-published writer, and pushed myself to release Book 2 (January 22nd, 2019), shortly followed by Book 3 (March 31st, 2019).
I love writing, I love my books, I love my characters… but all of this took an inevitable toll on my physical and emotional health.
By April (while I was packing for my vacation) in the aftermath of Book 3, I felt like I’d been ripped apart by my characters…
I guess part of the issue is that I get very, very, very deep with my characters.
It’s real-life romance, baby… and though it’s fiction, it takes a real-life-sized dollop of energy, heart and soul to breathe life into my characters.
I’ve spent so much time living with this story, with these characters, that it’s hard to LET GO. I need to write for other characters, but I’m haunted by the highlights of the characters fully fleshed.
It’s hard to write a sweet scene when I’ve got Darren’s and Luisa’s nasty fight on replay in my head — “YOU THINK YOU ARE SO F**KING LOYAL…” (Book 3)
I’m trying to write something fun for my remaining characters — who SO deserve something fun — but all I can see is Nicole’s dark eyes, her desperation and damage begging — “TOUCH ME, TASTE ME…” (Book 3)
Oh, dear. I’ve made my characters so real for readers — but a little *too* real, for ME!
I needed a break. Thankfully, my vacation — a 3.5-week-long country-hopping cruise/hotel combo — came just in time. And for almost a month, I didn’t do much writer-y stuff. At all.
Well, I do need to mention a couple of significant “writer” updates that happened while I was on vacation.
Before I went off on vacation, I was in two minds about it, as I shared on my blog here. I strongly believe that books shouldn’t be republished and updated constantly, but with some distance, I was able to come to terms with my own feelings of self-doubt and failure as a writer, and I finally decided to take the plunge and cut it down for the greater good.
I worked on it throughout my vacation, and came down to 415 pages (from 555 pages) which is awesome. I’m still hoping to get it under 400 but that would be *really* pushing it, considering how much I’ve already cut. I’ve given myself until the anniversary of Book 1’s launch (July 28th) to produce the slimmer version… so watch this space!
In honour of World Book & Copyright Day, Trinidad & Tobago’s National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) held a celebration for all first-time authors.
It was unfortunate that I missed the ceremony as I was out of the country at the time, but I sent a representative to collect this fabulous little plaque and pin on my behalf (pictured).
There were a few dozen fellow first-time authors altogether, with a range of different types of books under their belts — self-help, medical, and all types of fiction. Any form of creation takes an amazing amount of courage, and I salute all the others who shared this honour with me.
There was once a time I doubted that I would ever publish anything, so I’m thrilled to say it’s great to now be part of my country’s history!
So, I’ve got the revised slimmer version of Book 1 due soon… and then what?
Well, I still have the pesky Book 4 and Book 5 to complete. The stories are half-assed and all over the place in my head, so I need to seriously sit with myself and get my head back into it.
You see… my book babies did me in. My characters dug their claws in, and hung on tight… for months. I had to let them go, finally, to get to some level of sanity.
And now that I need them to come back, I don’t trust myself (or them) to maintain a safe distance, and at the same time I need them to cross that “safe” barrier so that they can inspire me to write them.
Oh, dear. You’ve ruined me, my darlings. And now what? How do I top that? How do I fall into another character the way you’ve taken me hostage?
It won’t be easy, I know, and I also don’t want to fall into that downward writer spiral again. There is a delicate balance as a writer that you have to tread, so you don’t cross into that danger zone!
I’m happy that I got the break I did, and now at long last I’m ready to take the next step, whatever it may bring.
In my launch day post for “Book 2: Pandora’s Poison”, I mentioned that I’d learnt a lot since becoming a published writer, and the book length issue was a huge part of what I’d learnt.
It continues to plague me to this day…
Usually, once readers start in on the book, it doesn’t feel nearly as long as it really is. There is a lot — a LOT — of dialogue, so it’s easy to flip through scenes.
I know my writing style is on point when it comes to DIALOGUE. My characters feel real because of it. And there’s a lot of it, so it helps you to dive right in.
The problem is, when you’re a reader used to 200-300 page books, and you see a new author clocking in at 500+………. yeah, it’s a hard sell.
While I think my story is worth the long read, and most readers did enjoy it, quite a few harped on the length.
Some said they read every word, some said it discouraged them at first but then they didn’t care, some said it was long but kept their interest throughout, and there was the odd one or two that mentioned skipping ahead or that marked it down primarily for that, calling it “long-winded” despite being such a good story.
But even my amazing blogger who gave it a fabulous, thoughtful review (and who eventually ended up doing an Author Q&A with me because she loved the book so much)… well, even she mentioned, in a nutshell:
“Fabulous story, but it just takes so long to get there!”
The thing was… whether in a good or bad light… it was MENTIONED. It was a TOPIC. And THAT might be the issue here.
I’d love to ignore it and hope I’m one day famous enough to not care. After all, Stephen King can afford to suck his teeth at short-attention-span readers, but even he noted that he went way overboard at times and lamented some of his longer works as he grew as a writer.
You see, sometimes… you’ve just got to kill those darlings!
The problem is getting readers in the first place.
My book is already outside the genre norms as my characters aren’t “heroes and heroines” — fair enough. So, adding a super-long length on top of that… yeah, I’m just asking for trouble.
I recently ran a couple of marketing promo services and realised that bloggers preferred to simply promo the book rather than write a review… probably because of the length. So it feels like an uphill battle.
The thing is, I believe in the core of my soul that “published” means “published” and despite the ABILITY to do so, there’s only a small margin of what you really should “edit” once you hit that button.
So I’m still on the fence about cutting down Book 1.
It took me awhile to decide to “cut” my story into Books 2 & 3 and do some rewriting, but at least those weren’t published yet. Making a major change (like cutting 150 pages!) will require a LOT more effort.
I also have to consider what it would mean for future stories — as Book 1 had loads of minor characters with back stories since I knew I had plans for them later on. Sigh.
I don’t know if I have what it takes to “slim down” my first fat book baby. I’m glad that it is POSSIBLE, since I’m a self-published writer. And I know other indies do this ALL THE TIME.
But… still… sigh.
I guess part of it feels like… I’m a bit of a failure, if I have to go backwards and “FIX” my debut.
But… is taking this hit to my ego worth it, in the long run?
I myself don’t always look at book length before diving in. Most times, I just start reading and stop if my interest wanes. Usually, by 10% of whatever the length is, I’ll know.
But readers don’t all think like me. And some are voracious readers and have a very specific idea of what they’re looking for in a book.
Maybe I can’t hit ALL of their “wish list” items, but length can be a deterrent from the jump.
I guess it’s a little like thinking about planning a trip to Australia.
It looks great, I’m sure it’s great. Everyone who went tells me it’ll be great. But it’ll take me over an entire day to get there. So… I haven’t gone yet.
It’s not that I’ll NEVER go. I still WANT to go. I just don’t know when I’ll be prepared to make the trip. And in the meanwhile, I’m popping over to everywhere that’ll take me 12 hours or less…
And, if I’ve ALREADY gone to Australia or somewhere nearby (i.e. read another book by the same author) and I’m familiar with the journey, I’ll settle in and enjoy the 24+ hour trip, as I know exactly what’s coming.
Maybe I’m waffling on about “journeying” because my vacation is coming up and I’m excited! 🙂 But… well, you get the point.
A book is a journey. An unknown author is an unknown destination. So if the destination seems too far in the distance…
Yeah. You see where I’m going with this.
If it were a single one-off standalone, then I would be more comfortable just leaving it in its chubby unwieldiness.
But I’m writing a SERIES. And while you CAN go straight to Book 2, I don’t recommend it.
Most readers will want to start at Book 1. Yep: the fat book baby.
So if it’s an issue that’s going to plague me and all future books in the series… yeah. I have to give it some serious thought.
In the meanwhile, I’ll hold off on promo-ing Book 1 again until I’ve made a decision either way… but in the meanwhile…
Sigh.
A book isn’t a piece of software. I shouldn’t need to do “patches”. It’s a piece of art. It should exist, intact, once revealed to the public.
And I’m an overachiever perfectionist. I don’t do “failure” well. And going back feels like failure. Republishing feels like failure. Needing to have a “Version 2” feels like failure.
But is “failure” worth it, to succeed in the long run?
Can “going back” help me to “go forward”?…
We’re here. We’re at this point… yep, you’ve guessed it:
Today is the day BOOK 3 LAUNCHES!
Just a reminder — my first published book was released July 28-29, 2018. My second published book was released on January 22, 2019. So there was a good six-month window between Book 1 and Book 2, but only a couple of months until Book 3!
Yikes! So it’s been a helluva couple of months…
I set a high bar for myself with that two-month window between books, and I don’t recommend this to anyone!
I was cutting it VERY close to the deadline, made a crazy dash to do last-minute edits, and hardly had time to promote both the recently-released Book 2 and the upcoming Book 3! So both books suffered from the short timeline.
BUT I had my reasons. I have a semi-cliffhanger in between Books 2 & 3, so I didn’t want toooooo long of a wait, and I also really wanted to get those books out there as they’ve been around forever!
Book 1 was written over 15 years ago, and what eventually became Books 2 & 3 was finished since 2016! Now, it’s a long way from “finished writing” and actually “ready to publish” but YEARS is way too long.
I needed to get those books out there so I could focus on NEW stories, NEW characters!
I haven’t done much “net new” writing in YEARS, because these books occupied SO MUCH of my head space! I’ve revised and re-read and edited and WORKED so much on what I had, that I didn’t even feel possessed to work on stories that aren’t fully there yet.
So I’m really glad to have Book 3 PUBLISHED, LIVE, AVAILABLE, and most importantly — all its “production” is now OVER.
Now… I can actually, really WRITE.
Book 3 wraps up the first chunk of this series. I still have at least two more stories in me for this series — Bryan’s & Stacey’s which will be told in Book 4, and Gianni’s & Vicki’s which will be in Book 5 (not yet titled!). I haven’t figured out how it all ends yet, but I know that the MAIN story is done. Thank God.
The main story was Darren and Luisa… the affair that rocked EVERYTHING. It deserved two books, and I made sure it was PROPERLY told. It’s there. It’s out.
My Book 2 & Book 3 couple is a lot more complicated than Book 1’s. With Darren and Luisa, there’s SO much more. It is SO deep and was SO painful to write.
I’m really glad I ended up leaving it on a cliffhanger so readers could BREATHE between books. Because Book 3 moves SO FAST. There’s a natural break while the two main characters barely speak, but when Book 3 starts back up, it is RAW and goes DARK very, very fast. I repeat:
Book 3 is SWIFT. I’m warning you.
I did spend way more time FEELING my Books 2 & 3 characters, reliving scenes and retooling them. My writing is so, so, so much better by Book 3. I see myself. I am all over the place.
I am Luisa and her indecisive heart.
I am Darren and his desperate redemption.
I am Gianni and his quivering soul.
I am Kris and his eternal regret.
I am Nicole and her volatile seduction.
I am “Hart & Cole”.
They are all a part of me. I am a part of them.
They’re out there. All of them.
And this book is their culmination, for now. Their stories are told. FINALLY.
It’s today. It’s out there. It’s published. Woo-hoo!
Three published books, y’all. I’m a frickin’ WRITER, y’all!
(Now I need to stop boasting and hide in a corner and beg my Book 4 couple to talk to me!)
Get both parts of Darren’s & Luisa’s story now on Amazon:
Recently I had the honour of receiving one of my first blogger reviews, and it was SO awesome and I was SO thrilled and thankful she enjoyed my book and had such deep thoughts on it. Blogger reviews really are the holy grail of reviews!
Today, I’m so excited to be this blogger’s first author to do an Author Q&A!
People often ask me about the origins of my tales — particularly as I was always writing topics seemingly far removed from my own maturity and life experiences!
But perhaps they are all parts of lives lived before.
I can’t explain what happened in my past to bring my characters to live inside of me, but I try to sound eloquent about it.
I now own 800+ free ebooks. (Yep. I counted.)
Which, in all fairness, isn’t even close to the limit. Amazon boasts its newer Kindles can hold up to 3500 books!
I need 20 more lifetimes to ever get around to half of these that I already have.
…And I get 20+ emails per day offering even more freebies. I don’t even remember signing up to half of these newsletter subscriber sites. So… yeah.
Honestly, I’m not surprised authors are complaining about “no/low sales”.
We’re not “part of” the problem. We ARE the problem.
First of all, I should probably mention how I became the not-so-proud owner of this RIDICULOUS amount of freebies.
Less than a year ago, I had literally zero idea that free ebooks could come to you almost automatically. I either bought books I wanted in a bookshop, or online… simple as that.
Then in July 2018, I decided to finally push the button and become a published author. Once I did that, I realised I was way behind in understanding the indie author life, so I joined a bunch of author groups and Googled the hell out of everything I could devour online in terms of resources.
POST-publishing my own book was the first time I even heard about the term “reader magnet”.
I used to think if it was free, it was a pirated copy. I had no idea you could even give your book away freely in any way, shape or form. Legitimately. Like, on an Amazon page where “$0.00” shows up and you just click on it and BOOM! Free book on your Kindle, like magic.
I repeat… NO IDEA.
But once I heard about it, I figured everyone’s doing it… so I tried it myself. So far, I’ve given away 3315 copies of Book 1 of my series through two freebie promos (the first, more successful promo is documented here: I hit #1-#3 in my categories, and #87 overall on the Free Kindle list).
Despite those great results, I’m pretty sure only one of my reviews came from this freebie promotion. And *maybe* a handful of sales, if I’m lucky.
And my book (Book 1, that is) was well received, with mostly stellar reviews. So I figure — okay, surely if someone reads and loves Book 1, they’ll rush for Book 2.
…Nope.
That’s just not how it works, you see…
I took a step back and decided to look at it from my own viewpoint as a reader.
In the writing community, there’s this notion of “the ideal reader” who will lap up everything you produce on the spot, with no question. An ideal reader who will BUY your books.
And here’s the thing: I am no one’s ideal reader.
I love reading, but I read a lot. I’m not genre-monogamous, so I also hop around a lot, and I generally don’t read the same “type” of book continuously. In the past month alone, I’ve read 20+ authors from at least 5 genres — as you’ll note from my Book Reviews Reader Blog.
I should mention — I’m also a foodie who loves a little of everything and gets excited by new restaurants, tastes and fusions. And I’m also a traveller, who prefers to go to a new place rather than back to the same spots all the time.
So, yep, you’ve guessed it… I love — love — love VARIETY. That’s just who I am as a PERSON. So as a reader, yep… the same applies.
I’ve signed up to newsletters for at least 20 individual authors, and I still open their emails, and I don’t unsubscribe (that’s just rude). I love hearing what they’re up to, and getting those lovely sneak previews and behind-the-scenes moments. But at the same time, I’m fickle.
Even if I enjoy a freebie, I may still hesitate to click “purchase” on another book, the moment I’m done. I’m in the mood for a different flavour, so I may wait awhile before I go back to that author. And, sometimes by that time I’m “in the mood”, I might have forgotten how to find them or their books! (This is actually why I started following some authors… so I could “bookmark” them for later!!!)
So, as a reader… I’ve gotten something for free (the magnet), and I’m unlikely to ever be in a position to always be giving something back (actually sticking onto the damn fridge).
Now, I’m a tough sell, because I read a lot. And I’m a super-picky reader. The amazing books ARE out there. I know they are. I’ve found some of them!
And I HAVE purchased books that rocked my world, after reading the author’s freebie first. It just doesn’t happen often enough.
Sometimes, part of my hesitation is that I’m actually afraid it WON’T be as awesome. I’m scared to risk NOT getting that “reader high” again. I’m wary that it might have been a fluke, and I’ll be crushed. (*Sigh* I’ve been burnt by this before.)
But usually it’s a much more basic reason: I’ll be hovering over the “Buy” button, knowing the book will probably be just as awesome, and then remember — oh F##!@#!@K! Do I really NEED this book? What about the others I still have to read???!!!!!
Sigh. It’s a bleak outlook, but there you have it.
This is me as a reader. And I know I’m not alone in this.
We’ve cultivated a culture of “grazing” that celebrates low attention spans. And cheapness. Nope. Scratch that. FREENESS.
In my non-writer life, as a marketing professional, we’re encouraged to “get our message” across in the first 5-10 seconds of video content. Our applications are chock full of ads that we mindlessly close off, to get to the free stuff.
Netflix throws the entire world of entertainment at you, and the abundance of choice can be crippling. Flick, flick, flick… nothing to watch!
And, in the book world, there’s Kindle Unlimited, where the “pagereads” concept expects you to never have to necessarily finish a book. And the scary part is that unlike Netflix, you don’t even need a Kindle Unlimited subscription to get “free” books!
Authors throw them at you. All the time. We even PAY to GIVE AWAY our books. Yes. That is crazy. The even sadder part… is that it’s also NECESSARY.
So if I’m a fickle reader, what about the flipside?
As I writer, I don’t write nearly fast enough, I barely market myself, and I work a full-time job on top of my sideline writing “hobby”. So…
How can I expect my “ideal reader” to be patiently waiting on me?
No wonder authors are pumping books out like it’s going out of style!
The indie author life is a numbers game… the more you have, the more money you make, even if you hardly sell anything.
The trick is VOLUME. After all, if you have 20 kids, you have a higher probability that ONE of them will do something important with its life, right? That’s how authors seem to be operating. More books, more writing… if you want even a trickle of money.
And I’m not saying that having a huge backlist necessarily means the writing is bad. (This is a HUGE point of contention on a well-known Facebook author group that has almost 30,000 members to date, and even holds writing conventions and everything. I repeat: a HUGE point of contention! So I’m not going to touch that one with a ten-foot pole!)
There are AWESOME writers with FABULOUS books, and LOTS of them. They’re just doing it wayyyyyyy faster than I am, or ever could!
I can put my best foot forward, with each book… but I just can’t compete, volume-wise. At least not anytime soon.
Many authors can afford to give away one or two “freebie” magnet book babies, with 10-100+ other book babies to pick up the slack. What about those that only have a few… or maybe even just one?
It’s an uphill battle.
Notably, I recently made a concerted effort to:
So I’m trying to be a little less fickle.
But these days, “freeness” is so easy to come by, that I myself am always going to be WAY more of a “consumer” than I am an actual “buyer”. So, like I mentioned earlier:
I am no one’s “ideal reader”.
…What if I’m also no reader’s “ideal author”?
Fellow authors, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
I’ve been fortunate enough to have snagged the attention of a couple of bloggers recently with my debut novel “Climbing The Walls“.
Mind you, to date I must’ve emailed over 100 bloggers, with about a .0000000001% response rate, and then after sending my book to the few who DID respond… ***crickets***!!!
So I’m eternally humbled and grateful, and so thrilled that these two bloggers took the time and attention to lovingly describe aspects of my book that I myself couldn’t have written better.
I’ll share a few snippets here from my two recent reviews from:
While there are more verbose reviewers who write quite a bit, a typical review usually ranges anywhere from a one-liner to a few paragraphs and focuses on what the reader “liked” and “didn’t like” about the book.
A blogger’s review may do the same, but I’ve found most bloggers would go deeper and unpack the themes and issues they experienced while reading.
As a past Literature student who spent hours ripping apart themes of the books I studied, it’s such a weird and warm feeling to have that done to your own works, by bloggers who in their own right are writers themselves!
I love how Debjani’s review opens, with the line:
“We’re Kris and Nicole. We’re supposed to fit.”
This goes straight to the essence of the story — Kris and Nicole intended to defy all the nay-sayers by having the best relationship possible, and that quote from Nicole shows her insecurity in that moment of doubt where she feels so out of sync with Kris.
Similarly, Eileen also goes straight to the heart of the story:
“How much is too little, enough, or too much sex?”
Kris and Nicole, and their friends with whom they interact, are often talking about sex — which Kris and Nicole have loads of, sure, but it doesn’t make their marriage perfect. Behind closed doors, sex becomes a weapon or a mind game, and it’s the reason Kris has often buckled and gave in, against his better judgement.
Eileen brought up the important theme of friendship, and she was the first reader to zero in on that in her review:
“Are friendships outside of marriage ‘real’, or limited to what the other partner allows?”
Friendship is a key undercurrent theme of the series. Nicole, a sexy and promiscuous waitress prior to marrying Kris, has always struggled with female friendships, and finds more in common with her career-driven boss Darren. But male-female relationships get complicated fast, particularly when his own marriage is on shaky ground.
Kris is close to both men and women, primarily his coworkers Bryan and Vicki, and he also has a close friend from his past, J.J. His world and Nicole’s world don’t often collide in terms of friendships.
Notably, when they are struggling in their relationship, neither Nicole nor Kris initially reach out to confide in these “friends” — even Nicole, who has been hearing Darren’s marriage woes for months.
As these relationships all intertwine inextricably, it brings to the fore whether “friendship” is as important to either party, once their “relationship”/”marriage” begins, and which should take precedence.
I love that Eileen brings up the topic:
“Would marriages of the various couples in the book survive if they did not have young children to raise?”
This is a question I ask myself when writing, all the time.
When you first fall for someone — chemistry, fireworks, explosion — it’s not the same relationship you will have years down the line, when you have children and your days are preoccupied with school runs, dirty diapers, and chores.
For Darren and Luisa especially, the fact that they already had two kids surely would have impacted their decision to stay together despite her infidelity.
Those kinds of questions are at the heart of my genre I like to call “real-life” romance.
In my series, children are important, yes. And they get the best, cutest scenes! Debjani mentions:
“Fortuné’s writing is vividly descriptive. I could picture Kris planting a sloppy kiss on Kiki, his five-year-old precocious daughter’s forehead. I could also picture him kissing the two-year-old Khai’s chubby cheeks. Lastly, I could also picture Nicole watching all of them… from afar.”
It takes a lot for Nicole to eventually come to a point where she is really ready to surmount her own damaged past and make her family a priority.
And finally, we come to the overriding crux of the “Hart & Cole” series. As Eileen asks:
“What is forgiveness? Is adultery the worst crime in marriage, how do couples deal with it whenever one or both of them commit adultery?”
Adultery is everywhere throughout the book — Nicole’s parents’ relationship was fraught with it, Darren’s and Luisa’s marriage is tainted by it, and there are dashes of it everywhere you turn with other minor individuals and couples.
At the end of the day, a relationship isn’t often what it looks like on the outside, and it can be a daily battle just to maintain that façade among friends and family.
Eileen notes:
“Reading the book kept me reflective on issues of friendships in and out of marriage, parenthood, work and employment, and what it takes to live with another adult.”
And Debjani states:
“If you want to read a gritty, real, and raw romance novel, then pick up Climbing the Walls by Sacha T. Y. Fortuné. If you are married, then you are bound to glimpse a slice of your marriage in this book.”
It isn’t all hearts and rainbows, but there is a lot to unpack here, and a lot of love. Overall, the story of “Climbing The Walls” aims to show that adultery doesn’t happen in isolation, and there are no easy answers to how to cope with it.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my recap here. Be sure to read the two full blogger reviews, and check out their other book reviews on their sites:
So I’m six months into this writer journey, with two books under my belt, and had a recent experience I thought worth sharing.
My friend agreed to let me share this once she read it first and once I kept her nameless, so here goes:
“So… this is really awkward, but I just read your book (the first one)… and I think I owe you an apology.”
Huh?
(I was lost.)
“I know you’ve been talking about this book and this writer thing for months now…”
Yeah, I’ve been a bit of a pain, I know — but as an indie author, if we don’t shout about our books, no one will read them…
“Right. So like, when you first published, I told you congrats…”
Yeah, I remember. Thanks, I appreciate your support!
“And I told you I’d buy it, which I did…”
Oh, great. Thanks again…
“But at the time I figured: okay it’s a few bucks, what the hell… though I didn’t really plan to read it.”
Ah, okay…
(Now I get the “awkward” part)
“I do read, but not that much, and I’m busy with work and my kids…”
Sure, I get it. Totally understand…
“And then, the other day, I was in a waiting room at the hospital for about six hours.”
(*We chatted for a bit on her personal family matter – this part I won’t share*)
“So I had my phone, and literally nothing to do for a long time, and I saw someone reading a book next to me, and I remembered I had downloaded your book months ago, so I hunted on my phone to see if I still had it… I don’t really understand this app thing, not sure if it disappears after awhile…”
Okay…
(This is getting to be the weirdest “apology” and most awkward long-winded convo ever)
“So yeah… I started reading it…”
Oh, great. Let me know how it turns out. Hope you like it.
“…And I finished reading it that same day.”
Bless your soul. Amazon says it takes 14+ hours on average…
“Yeah, that sounds about right. The six hours in the waiting room… then another hour on my journey home… then four more hours… took a break to organise my kids for bed and to get ready for school the next day… then the remainder of it I read well into the early hours of the morning… and I had work the next day!”
Oh, dear.
“In fact, I think I might have given myself a bladder infection coming down to the end, because I put off STOPPING for quite awhile.”
YIKES! Okay… ah, sorry?
“So… right. The apology part. Well… like, I always knew you were into writing, but somehow it just… wasn’t what I expected.”
What did you expect…?
“Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe that it was going to be too ‘high-brow’ for me to ‘get’ (like I said, I don’t read a lot) since I know you’re like, smart and stuff… or maybe that it was going to be bad or just kind of ‘meh’ and I didn’t want to feel awkward talking to you if I didn’t like it…”
Ah, okay…
“I just didn’t expect it to be like… like… I don’t know. You know when you binge-watch shows you stream because you just can’t stop? I’m not a big reader, and I just never felt that way from a BOOK.”
Ah, okay…
“Like I could PICTURE all these characters, Like I could FEEL everything. Like I wanted to BAWL and SCREAM and fling the book when I got to Chapter…”
(*spoiler – not sharing that part*)
(And now, I’m laughing — and noting who to keep in touch with, to one day help me write my Netflix pitch!)
“So… yeah. I just wanted to say — I’m so sorry I took so long to read it. And so sorry I didn’t even originally plan to read it. I promise I will now, for anything else you write.”
Thanks, I appreciate it. I really do.
So that conversation led me to think a lot about how isolating it can be as an author, particularly an independent/self-published or “indie” author.
I just did my first couple of “Author Takeovers” recently, where you “take over” a Facebook group and chat with its members for awhile in real-time. (To get an idea of what this entails, read this post.)
It was AWESOME to know that people tuned in just to say hi and that they appreciated your book.
And here’s the thing I realised, while doing it:
My biggest fans are people I’ve never met, and likely never will.
Ironically, “supportive” friends can sometimes be the last to appreciate your work.
In many cases, it goes a little something like this:
…Yeah. And this is the supportive friend, which many authors are not even lucky enough to have!
Nothing against these types of friends, by the way. ANY tiny nudge of support is appreciated! As an indie author, we take EVERYTHING we can get!
…And I’m not saying my book is the best thing ever, or that it will change your life.
Some people loved it, and they GOT it. Others… simply… won’t.
So, I reiterate: I’m not screaming “READ MY BOOK” to everyone. Obviously, it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea!
But I’d much rather you pass along the info to someone you know who DOES read and might actually buy it AND read it.
It’s a little insulting to tell a writer “I’m supporting you with a sale” (woo-hoo! I get a buck and some cents), with absolutely ZERO intention of ever reading it.
While a sale is always nice, I’m not in dire need of the pennies. I’m writing to share a story, not to make a mint off of my closest friends!
So I’m not baring my soul in my writing just for empty admiration.
If you DON’T plan to read it, be upfront about that, and find other ways to support!
If you DO plan to read it, then give your friend the benefit of the doubt, and go in blindly with the faith that there’s something of merit in their work.
And remember, there are several ways you can support your writer friend — even if you don’t read, or don’t read their genre.
We live in a shareable world driven by social media influencers, and amidst the cacophony of noise, any little nudge will help.
You can share my posts, my promotional images, my Author website, my purchase links (Kindle or paperback), my Facebook page @SFortuneAuthor, my Instagram feed @sfortuneauthor, or my Twitter feed @authorsfortune.
Or, if you’re not on social media, no prob… you can do the old-school version of this. Drop it into a convo: “Hey, so my friend published a novel…” Yeah, it’s that simple.
Like I said, there are LOADS of ways to support your writer friends, without giving an empty promise about reading/buying their books. If you want to help but don’t know how, just ask!
I gave out ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies), and a user took both Books 1 & 2 — then sent me a message saying she preferred not to review.
…Not that she didn’t like my writing. She was explicit about this. But it seems she didn’t want the book on her record of having reviewed on her accounts, since it contains a particular scene that she wasn’t 100% comfortable with.
I respect her decision, and thanked her for letting me know.
But now I’m wondering — should I have had a trigger warning? Or any “warning” at all?
I’ve seen loads of writers literally stating in the blurb:
There’s also the other side of the spectrum, where the blurb gives a reassurance:
…So other writers are doing it.
This is a totally brand new concept to the world of self-publishing and online sales.
To date, to my knowledge at least (fellow writers & readers, correct me if I’m wrong), I’ve never picked up a traditionally published book that gives a massive warning like that right on the cover.
And I understand that some readers prefer not to read certain things.
But I think I’ve been fair in creating the final book product. I’ve selected 18+ (mature audiences only), in the Amazon KDP back-end settings.
And I think I’ve been fair in packaging my series — the covers are NOT happy-go-lucky. It’s clearly NOT a romantic comedy. I’ve used grayscale for a reason.
I’ve set the expectation of adult content.
And I think I’ve been fair in my blurbs:
“…damaged bitch who became his power-woman sex-goddess wife” and “…the earth-shattering sex that will not be denied.”
“…a dangerous attraction for a less complicated man than the granite bastard she married” and “the question faced in one’s darkest hour: Can you trust yourself?”
Not to mention the overall series statement:
“A marriage is not a happy ending; it’s a beginning of so much more to come.”
And, within the first few pages (which can be read via the “Look Inside” preview on Amazon for “Climbing The Walls“), there’s sex and cursing. Enough sex and cursing to make the reader think — “Okay, maybe this isn’t for me…” and move on, if necessary.
In fact, something that someone *might* consider a “trigger warning required” moment is actually close to the front of “Pandora’s Poison” and can be read in the “Look Inside” preview!
So it’s clear (at least to me), with all of THAT I outlined, that this is the darker side of “romance”, and as a reader I would bear all of this in mind before I click to purchase.
I did think about the “trigger warning” issue, and I did shop around for examples on writer groups before making my decision to NOT use any… so I did do my homework.
You see, the whole point of my entire Hart & Cole series is to get 100% invested in the characters, to LIVE their lives as if it’s happening to you.
That’s my writing style. It’s the FUNDAMENTAL part of my writing style.
Some readers have appreciated it. REALLY appreciated it.
My favourite Book 2 review (to date) even said:
Everything felt so so real.
It isn’t a storybook; it is a real life book where no matter what you have experienced in your life, you can actually feel the emotions seeping in, and that is what I’ve come to realize with this author.
When I pick her books up, I need to be prepared to face reality and feel the emotions because that’s what she gives me.
So when something shocking happens in the plot, I want the reader to be JUST as shocked as the character was.
For that to happen… I can’t have a trigger warning. I just can’t.
I’m sorry that my reviewer didn’t have a warning, and I appreciate that she shared her reasons with me instead of giving me a terrible review, or explicitly detailing the “shock” moment in the review and spoiling it for other readers.
That was AWESOME of her, and I do appreciate that.
And please note, I do carefully consider the plots of my novels, as I write.
My characters are not performing anything “shocking” for gratuitous purposes. It’s all essential to the plot, and even so I’m still ensuring that anything “shocking” has consequences.
I’ve read a LOT of books where there’s ZERO warning and ZERO retribution for deplorable acts.
I’ve had my own personal experiences, so now as a writer, I am as careful as I can be, about the “shock value” moments.
…But they still exist.
That’s the whole point.
You see… my muse doesn’t come with a trigger warning.
The “shock” moment, in my mind, was just as painful for me to write as it was for the reader to read.
Sometimes, I feel like I’m just the conduit to share my characters’ stories.
And, as that conduit… as that middle-man between the story and the reader… I’m sorry. I just can’t censor my characters. I’ve made it clear to expect adult content, but readers… I just can’t give you a giant, neon-sign heads-up as to the details on this content.
My goal as a writer is to make you feel.
…Even if, sometimes, what you feel is pain.
Finally, the day is here!
It’s my birthday today, but that’s the least of my concerns.
Today is the day BOOK 2 LAUNCHES!
Now, my first published book was a whole six months ago (July 28-29, 2018). So it’s been quite some time bunkering down and absorbing all I can before my second book!
The first book was kind of like the first pancake. Not that it needed to be “thrown out” per se; just that it was the guinea pig.
I’ve grown so much as writer, as a marketing strategist — hell, as a human being! — since.
I didn’t know much at the time. I just knew that I had to PUBLISH THE DAMN THING, so maybe I rushed it a little.
Bear in mind, the draft existed for 15+ years. So the “rush” was really just to “publish” once I’d made up my mind to do it.
And I’m a perfectionist by nature, so even my “rushing it” probably isn’t everyone else’s “rushing it”.
Mind you, Book 1 was edited several times, had a great cover and a good blurb. Which is much more than I can say for many self-published books, so I’m proud I got at least that right (I hope)!
It looked professional, and I got great reviews so far.
Now, I know Book 1 is far from perfect. I love it, and readers did as well, but I personally wish it were significantly shorter — in fact, I managed to dock about 5 pages and re-upload it, post-publication!
But after doing that, I’ve told myself to just leave it alone. It’s out. It’s published. It survived. Move on.
It’ll never be perfect. And there’s no way I can realistically cut 100-200 pages and still tell the same story. There’s also no good point to chop that story in half, and then I’d need to rewrite and “fluff” far too much.
I need to accept that some books fall “outside” of genre norms, and my book just needs to be one of those.
So I’m moving on now, to Darren’s & Luisa’s story.
Book 2‘s & Book 3‘s couple is a lot more complicated than Book 1’s.
In Book 1, Kris and Nicole have one major issue in between them: she’s a workaholic, and he picks up the slack far too much with the kids; something’s got to give. With Darren and Luisa, there’s SO much more.
I loved writing their “early” scenes, when they were first falling in love.
I loved writing their “present – bad” scenes, when they’re sniping at each other.
I loved writing their “present – good” scenes, when they’re so tender.
…And that final scene (which bridges Book 2 & 3… OH MY GOD). Wait for it. Just wait for it.
Darren is a VERY difficult guy to love, but still Luisa can’t help herself. She also can’t help herself from feeling caught up in Gianni, who is the guy, as she says, that she “wants to want”.
The thing with Darren is that, as her friend Vicki puts it, early in Book 3:
“Darren Hart isn’t the rainbows and butterflies guy. He’s the one you call when you’re standing over the dead body with the murder weapon in your hand. You’re ridiculously lucky to have that guy. You can’t expect him to be the other kind.”
Even Luisa acknowledges this about him, many times. She’ll get the small-picture stuff from Gianni, but Darren is the big-picture guy. He’s always saving her, rescuing her, taking care of their family in the major ways that count.
That’s love.
When the chips are down, Gianni’s not the one who’s there. It’s Darren. It was always Darren.
You see, love doesn’t always look the way you expect it to look. That’s the lesson Luisa has to learn. And of course, she’s got to learn it the hard way!
So that’s Books 2 & 3 in a nutshell.
I should mention… Books 2 & 3 are way more emotional, way more steamy, way more provocative, way more profanity-laced, way more EVERYTHING than Book 1! I hope readers are ready!
I’m a little nervous that readers have to wait awhile for the HEA or HFN (Happily Ever After or Happy For Now), and that the semi-cliffhanger may leave them flinging Book 2 (physical copy or their device) at the wall!
But I’ve thought about it long and hard, and I KNOW it’s necessary. Apart from the obvious reason that the length is WAY too long for a single book (seriously — it would only be used as a doorstop!), you also need to take a break from this couple.
There’s a natural “break” between the two books because Darren and Luisa barely speak to each other for awhile. And a couple of months will be sufficient time to BREATHE before all the Book 3 action kicks off.
Book 3 is SWIFT. I’m warning you.
But anyway, I realise, as I look back at these three books, that I’ve matured as a writer.
Book 1‘s first draft was written when I was in my late teens, on the cusp of adulthood. I knew so little about relationships then! And still, I was writing such a story!
But Book 2 & even more so Book 3… yeah, I was a lot older and more mature by the time those rolled around.
My writing is better. I see myself in these books, more than Book 1.
And I’m ready to rip off the band-aid and expose Book 2 to the world.
It’s happening. It’s today.
It’s out there. It’s published.
I’m a little scared. *Deep breath*… here goes nothing.
I’m not kidding when I say, in my official Author Bio, that there’s a little bit of me in all the ‘Hart & Cole‘ women.
The photo — which I recently stumbled upon while looking for something else on an old, massive hard drive — was taken circa 2005, when I’d gotten a white rose at a party because I’d been voted best dressed.
I was studying in Lancaster, England at the time. It was one of the best nights I’d had since I got there. I remember the experience was the bright spot of my existence, for a moment.
I’d completely forgotten about that photo, which I took when I got back to my dorm room that day.
Now, seeing it so many years later — and realising the similarities between my own photo and my main character Nicole, it’s uncanny!
I remember when my mom first read the book, eons ago, she commented that I’d written my dream job for my character: a novelist, who was also a journalist.
Here’s the thing… I’m now a published novelist (not quite as accomplished as Nicole, however!). I also have an International Journalism Master’s degree (which is collecting dust as we speak!).
…So my character’s actually done much better than me!
She’s also slim-bodied, super-talented and fashionable and oh-so-sexy. Ha. If only I could be! I’m also totally envious of her main physical characteristic: the huge curly hair. Sigh. I’ve got scanty of this myself, and not for lack of trying.
But the point is, I guess we have to get inspiration from somewhere. Nicole was the first character to POSSESS me like that, to write her story. Like I’ve said before, I’m a pantser; she’s the plotter! I swear, there are parts of the story that I don’t even feel I wrote; I think she did!
So maybe Nicole is my elevated version of myself. Everything to the extreme!
She’s also hella crazy to the extreme, and thankfully I am not. She’s all fiction, of course, and so is her story… but sometimes I wonder if part of her was always rooted in fact.
It’s no wonder I feel her like a presence, like a real person sometimes.
She’s a part of me. I didn’t even realise it consciously while writing her, all those years ago.
Now, when I spot this old photo of myself, after publishing and re-tooling my novel so many times, it feels so concrete that I’ve had this girl in me all along.
So strange, to realise that even back then — 14 years ago, which would’ve been about a year or so after I’d finished my first draft of Climbing The Walls, I knew exactly what Nicole looked like.
I’m glad to learn, in retrospect, that I stayed true to her 15 years later, when putting her likeness on the book cover.
Like I said, there’s parts of me in all the ‘Hart & Cole‘ women, who have been pleading with me for over a decade to do them justice.
My second novel — Book 2: Pandora’s Poison — is almost here (it will be live on Jan 22, 2019), and it focuses on a new female character, Luisa. But Nicole was my first girl, and parts of Nicole’s story are intertwined here in Book 2, and also in Book 3: Pandora’s Price.
Nicole’s not done yet.
…Sometimes, I wonder if she ever will be.
Get Book 1 now on Amazon – free on Kindle Unlimited! And pre-order Book 2 – coming January 22, 2019!
There’s less than a week to go for Book 2 of my series, so I’m doing a million things at once. So please forgive the mini-rant!
I took some time to reflect on parts of the journey that have been the hugest learning curve for me.
I appreciate that my Photoshop skills have definitely improved over the past six months!
This certainly wouldn’t have happened if I had loads of money to spend on graphic design for teasers and promos, so this journey has been well worth the ride!
Some things I figured out on my own, others I YouTube’d to learn how to do!
So now I feel like I can easily slap together a teaser, or create the book jacket, without panicking! Woop!
Yeah. I still don’t understand algorithms. Like, at all.
I do, however, appreciate that it’s a numbers game — the more freebies you give away, the more people see your book and then may purchase or read on Kindle Unlimited beyond the promo.
The more reviews you have, the more people may be seeing your book (I think).
Not sure how this entire tangle of algorithm mess actually works, but I appreciate that any tips fellow authors offer may be valuable. WORSHIP the algorithms!
I have gotten more organised. Thank God. I needed to.
I now have three book file folders. In each of them there’s:
Then I have:
Then there are the “preview/sample” files :
That’s for EACH BOOK. AND I HAVE THREE! So, every time I find a typo, it’s like F@$#$@#$#$#$#@$#@$##$@!K — because I have to update things 20 times!
Yeah. Being a self-published author is AWESOME on some days, and on other days, a TYPO can ruin your life!
To all the fellow folks out there proud to be a self-published author, hang in there! I feel your pain, and you’re not alone.
Anyone else want to share their major learning curve items, feel free to do so in the comments! I’m sure #3 resonates with us all! ?????
One of my goals for 2019 is to read more. And review more — especially indie authors!
After all, it’s not fair to be begging for reviews when you’re not passing it forward yourself.
So over the last couple of weeks, I’ve given myself a huge kick in the pants to get this goal underway…
I downloaded at least 50 books running free promos (to add to the at least 30 “TBR” pile already on my Kindle).
My strategy to stick to the freebies is a situational thing. I’m poor, but if I love the first one I get for free, I’ll happily shell out the dough to get the next one! So I figured: there are loads of worthwhile freebies out there.
After all, my own book (which I think is pretty good — I may be biased, but hey!) was offered as a freebie in December to promote sell-through of the rest of the series, and I’ll soon be running another free promo again from January 22-24, 2019.
So if mine is a worthwhile freebie-starter, there MUST be others like it: freebie gems.
So, 80+ books, yay me! Goals! And I settled in to tackle some reading.
Just one problem.
I just realised I am a picky reader.
Like, super-picky. Super, super picky.
Sorry, but out of 80 I didn’t make it past 10% for more than 8!
The thing is, I don’t want to write half-assed reviews.
I need to feel MOVED to spend time banging out a review.
Like writing a novel, I need to put my soul into it!
And I haven’t been MOVED since last September, which is when I wrote the review for Mercedes Siler’s “Easy” — which I’ve also promo’d across my website, blog, social media accounts etc. without her even asking me to!
Mercedes loved the review I wrote, and I loved writing it. I love writing reviews for books that blow me away.
…Because you see, when I love a book, I LOVE a book.
I’ll scream it from the mountaintops.
And I WANT to love all these books I’ve downloaded.
I want to make a fellow author weep or jump for joy the way I do when I get a great review.
I want to make someone’s day.
But authors, you need to write me something to take me there.
Something that, when I close the book (or swipe the final screen), my heart’s straining out of my chest and my entire soul is pouring into the review.
…Something that ticks all the boxes.
Yep. I’m a picky reader! I think my Hart & Cole series has all of these. I worked hard to bring all of these elements together to create my own story.
My own story may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and maybe it’s not what everyone’s looking for — but I can go through that list and find moments that connect with each and every point. There’s a lot to unpack there.
Now, I’m looking for something similar in books I read.
…And I’m just not seeing enough of those elements from other writers I have read recently.
The market is oversaturated with “tropes” and just plain annoying one-dimensional characters. Girls that show up on page 1 wet and ready, and alpha guys that are growling and broody for no reason at all. Books that are about literally nothing — just a dollop of angst and hormones.
Writers writing to make money rather than to actually move the reader.
Do better. Please, please, DO BETTER, writers.
I want to write rave reviews. As a writer, when I read, it’s tough for me to write bad reviews, and I WANT to write those reviews that make the author’s heart sing.
I need to get out of this reading slump. If you write in these genres, and you think you’ve got one of those books that ticks all my boxes, let me know in the comments or via my Contact page!
It seems counterproductive, but a huge part of being an indie writer is that, at some point, you’ll have to give away your book for free.
…In a BIG way.
Never mind the fact that you took 15+ years to publish the damn thing.
Never mind the fact that you’re still at the point where you’re jumping for joy when you see even ONE sale pop up on your dashboard.
Never mind the fact that one measly sale only makes you like US$1-2, if you’re lucky.
None of that matters.
If you want to get your name out there (and I do)… if you want the world to meet your characters (and I do)… you have to bite the bullet and start flinging your goodies — for FREE! — at the universe.
First, a little about me.
I’m a newbie self-published author, with my first book “Climbing The Walls (Hart & Cole Book 1)” being on the market for about five months now (published July 28th, 2018).
So far, it’s gotten great reviews (5 & 4 star only) from anyone who made it through (check the Book 1 reviews here).
I must thank every single reader who read and reviewed, because I know that picking up a book by a new author (especially one 500+ pages) can be a bit daunting!
My book has always been in KDP Select / Kindle Unlimited — which allows users who pay a subscription to read all eligible books year-round at no extra cost.
One of the benefits of having your book in KDP Select is that you get to list your book for free, for up to 5 days within your 3-month KDP Select period.
KDP Select simply means you’re selling on Amazon only. It’s not for everyone, and some authors have good reasons not to do it.
I’m not a full-time writer, I’m new to the game, and I would hate to have to maintain multiple copies of my manuscript at different retailers (I don’t even know the number of times I’ve re-uploaded after noticing a typo!).
Also, I’m not looking to become a millionaire overnight, and just having my book published is huge for me!
So, all in all… KDP works for me.
And the “free” days are a nice bonus, but only really worthwhile if you’re writing a series.
First of all, I should mention I’m not “killing it” by any means. A few sales here and there, and I’m a happy camper.
The most I’ve sold so far in one day was 6 books. Many days are 0. I’m cool with that.
It doesn’t upset me, because literally every single sale means that my cover design, my blurb, my writing (the Amazon “Look Inside” excerpt) are on point — and a few hard-earned dollars were spent by someone!
To my best knowledge (as I don’t religiously check this every day), for the Paid lists, my best stats have been in the top 1,000 in my three main categories (Romance, Family Life, Literary Fiction) and in the top 100,000 overall.
So like I said — not “killing it” by any means!
My book is a super-full-length 555-page 200,000+ word opus of a woman’s fiction/romance novel, the first in a series.
I added an excerpt and a pre-order link for Book 2 at the end of it, to promote sell-through if readers want more.
Book 2 “Pandora’s Poison” launches a month from my free promo (Jan 22, 2019). So, there you go — that was my purpose for making it free!
In late November and early December, I scheduled my free promo through KDP on Dec 22-23, and then got cracking on the marketing strategy.
There’s no point in making a book free if no one knows to go get it!
I made teasers to be used on social media. Here are some samples:
Now, onto the websites/newsletters to mention the freebie!
First things first, I applied to Bookbub. I was declined. No surprise there. (It’s normal to be denied for a Bookbub deal – especially as a newbie!)
I wasn’t daunted, however. Onto other sites!
I put the promo up on BookSprout, which resulted in 43 opens and 14 clicks — not bad, considering this didn’t cost me anything.
Then, I did some research to find out which sites let you announce your freebie for free.
I found these lists handy:
I submitted my book to 45+ sites total.
This. Takes. Time. Lots. Of. Time. Loads. Of. Time. It. Is. The. Most. Tedious. Thing. Ever.
Of these, less than 10 posted my book (that I’m aware of, because they emailed me. There is a chance it was posted elsewhere but no one told me!)
Of the ones that DID post it, it was often buried at the bottom of the page/newsletter.
One site had a great post for the book, but the “Buy” button didn’t work! I reported it, but by the time they got it fixed, half the day was gone, so I’m sure I missed out on some sales.
…So, yeah. You get what you pay for!
Then, I booked a couple of paid promotions.
Now, I’m super cheap, and it physically hurts to PAY to give away your own book, so this was VERY minimal.
There are loads of newsletter options that have a small cover charge.
The thing is, if you want to crack the Bestseller lists, you need to stack your promos and run several at a time.
Unfortunately, that approach means that I have zero idea which ones paid off in the end between the free ones and the (cheap) paid ones.
I will say good things about Book Raid, though.
Their customer service is good, and you only pay per click — $0.05 per click, up to a max. of $20 for free books.
(For paid books, it’s $0.08 — and I’ve used them before, and only paid like $2. So, not bad!)
They also have a dashboard, so you know how many clicks you got — for this promo, I got 794 (about 720 of this came during the promo, others trickled in slowly after — as the book is offered via Kindle Unlimited, this extra amount may still count as readers).
As the book is free, and the blurb is in the newsletter, I’d like to assume that most of those clicks turned into purchases!
Plus – it’s purple.
And yeah, I’m into purple (in case you couldn’t tell).
…But that’s not a helpful measure of success! 🙂
Anyway, I digress…
Okay, so December 22nd reached, it was 12:00 a.m. — then 1:00 a.m. (I catered for the time difference between USA/Caribbean) — and my book WASN’T free on Amazon. I panicked.
A couple of sites were already advertising it, and it wasn’t free! OMG!
I contacted Amazon support but the KDP team wasn’t available. I emailed some of the sites to tell them to hold off, and I thought the end of the world was coming.
Nothing else could be done.
I went to bed and when I woke up, my book was free… and had already sold over 100 copies.
Because here’s the thing — the promo is in PST. Pacific Time. As in, four hours behind my own time. Yep. I felt like a nincompoop.
Anyway, I posted on Instagram, Twitter, and multiple Facebook groups. I have no idea how effective these were, but they can’t hurt!
A huge THANK YOU to any and everyone who saw my post and downloaded the book!!!
At any given time, there are hundred of authors running their own KDP free days, and I’m sure at least half of them know MUCH more than I do, and can spend WAY more money than I can to push their book.
So I’m super-thrilled with my results.
I’m also happy that I was able to hit the top 3 in my categories — and the top 100 overall — three days before Christmas with a book that ISN’T Christmas-themed. I was worried. I needn’t have been.
I stayed at #1 in my two main categories for most of the 22nd. Not bad at all. Romance was a tougher nut to crack. Romance is a TOUGH category to crack the top 3! And then I sat in the top 100 overall (#87) for a few hours, which is AWESOME!
So overall, I’ve had almost 2300 downloads with minimal investment — at least 8-10 sites/newsletters/social feeds posted my promo for free, and I forked out the cash to be in a couple of (very cheap) newsletters.
I also sent out my own newsletter to subscribers — my list is tiny, under 200 — with the simple tagline “Here’s your free copy of Climbing The Walls“.
I got my best success rate yet, 41.5% opens and 27.7% clicks. (People seem to like the word ‘free’!)
I also spammed what seemed like a zillion Facebook groups. I doubt that did much. If I got one ‘like’ or comment on a post, that was a lot. But again, it can’t hurt.
I don’t know how the Amazon algorithms work, but putting your book free helps it to get sold!
I’ve climbed the charts in the Paid listing (I’m in top 50,000 overall as I write this, and top 500-1000 in my main categories). It won’t last, but still… it’s the highest my book has ever been!
I also saw a couple sales come in, the day after the promo. Woohoo!
AND I’ve also seen a trickle of newsletter sign-ups and Bookbub & Goodreads followers. Nice! Be a dear and follow:
If I had to do it again (and I will sometime soon), I’ll connect with other writers to help push my book in their newsletters, groups and social media. That’s the only thing I didn’t really focus on this time, because I wanted to see how well I could do on my own.
If any other writers are reading this, feel free to reach out to drop me a line and see how we can connect to help each other out!
or drop a line here.So, here’s my key learning from this experiment:
A lot of TIME, EFFORT and ENERGY go into giving away your book!
It seems counterproductive that you end up paying people to buy your book, but that’s the life of a newbie indie writer.
I’m thrilled with the results. I was hoping to get around 500! At almost 2300, I’m hoping at least 5%-10% of that turns into a review of Book 1, a sale of Book 2, or both.
And now, almost 2300 people have the chance to meet my characters!
Of course, free books often end up sitting around on your e-reader for some time, since it costs you nothing to download it and you can download loads at a time.
BUT I have faith that the book cover will lure you in, while you swipe past others. I have faith that the first few lines will hook you. I have faith that by the end of Chapter 1 or 2, you’ll be invested in my characters.
Most of all, I have faith that if anyone makes it through my book and liked it, they’ll want to buy Book 2! And they should, because Book 2 is going to be SOOOOO much better.
Now, it’s just to sit back… and wait!
Feel free to grab up Book 1 (back to its regular $3.99 price now, BUT it’s still available on Kindle Unlimited), and to pre-order Book 2 – coming January 22, 2019!
Yeah, yeah, I know. The blog post title is misleading since I always make a big deal about the fact that “I don’t write romance. I write relationships. I write people.”
But for all intents and purposes, my Hart & Cole series is about love. It’s a lot MORE than romance, and it covers all KINDS of love, but the relationship is a driving force here.
And there is a huge aspect of ‘romance’ though I classify it more as a ‘Women’s Fiction’ genre since it doesn’t follow the usual trends of a romance.
Anyway, I’m getting off-topic! Romance or not, my concern is the fact that
(1) there is a love story of some kind, and
(2) there is a cliffhanger at the end of the book…
The reason I’m even worrying about this, is that it took me a LONG while to make up my mind, but I finally decided to make “Book 2” into Book 2 and Book 3.
I’d blogged about this earlier when I got a hard ‘no’ from a book blogger for my 555-page Book 1, and I realised that nowadays the length of a typical e-book is certainly a lot shorter than a traditionally-published one would be.
In fact, everything is general is getting smaller and shorter and is now available in a “digestible” format, so it’s understandable that books would be, too.
Problem is, I simply can’t cut my book down to such bare bones.
My characters have a LOT to say, and my story is long because it simply has to be.
…But while I can’t cut down, I CAN however cut it into smaller pieces.
And… well, yeah. In this case, I think I have to. I’ve been as stringent as I can with editing… and Darren’s and Luisa’s story still comes up to over 300,000 words and 775+ pages!
Yeah. No one’s ever going to buy the print version of that, unless they want a giant brick to prop open a door!
And honestly, after living in their heads for 350+ pages, I myself need a breather!
So… I made the big decision to CHOP, baby, CHOP.
Fortunately, there is a somewhat “natural” point of their story, where it made sense to chop, and it does happen near to the mid-mark — Chapter 30 out of 55, so it was nice to round those up and make it “Chapter 30” for Book 2 and “Chapter 25” for Book 3.
Also, for some reason I had always naturally provided somewhat of a mental recap in Chapter 31 (now Chapter 1 of Book 3). So it wasn’t *too* bad of a change, to split them.
It did call for some rewriting, though. I had to rewrite the last scene of “Book 2” so it seems like it’s somewhat of a conclusion-for-now, of sorts.
And as Book 3 was shorter than Book 2, for balance I made a few chapters in Book 3 a bit longer — which was fun, actually.
I threw in a MUCH longer scene for a convo with Luisa & new gal-pal Vicki (because OMG I just love Vicki, and she’s been begging me to fluff her up a bit since I’m making her wait SO long for her own story!)…
And I also did a MUCHHHH longer final scene with Darren and Nicole that made my toes curl! *eh-ehrm, a bit too much info there*…
So objectively speaking (or as objective as I can be, given that I’ve written the damn thing myself!) I don’t think the chop is HORRIBLE.
And I think it’ll benefit me in the long run, to have two books instead of one giant brick.
Yay, me.
…But what about the readers?
I guess it’s fortunate that I’m not super-famous yet, and chances are that Book 3 (planned for 2 months after Book 2) might actually be released before most readers even get the chance to read Book 2.
So maybe I’m overthinking this, and it won’t matter. I haven’t sold enough books yet to have a throng of fans chasing me with pitchforks because they don’t know who ends up together!
But I did throw the question out to a few writer groups, and came back with responses at both ends of the spectrum.
My first response (which made me regret even posting it!) was…
“By ending with a cliff-hanger, you’d have pissed me off enough not to care, because I wouldn’t purchase the next one.”
Ouch.
Fortunately, he (and others like him) were in the minority and others quickly jumped in to point out:
Phew. Okay.
Which brings me to the heart of what I was actually asking…
That question got responses everywhere from 6 months to a year (on the long side), 1-3 weeks (on the short side), 1-3 months (on the average side), and a few jokesters who said:
Two hours!
And…
3 days! Did anyone say 3 days yet? Is this like “The Price Is Right”?
Ha, ha. You can always trust writers to come up with the best responses! 🙂
My foray into reaching out to other writers did bring me to ‘Zon’ (the equivalent of “Google” but on Amazon Kindle) a few of them, and get an idea of their success with cliffhangers. Generally, there were negative reviews but they were more than balanced out with high ratings and gushing reviews.
So despite its iffy bad-boy rep, readers do tolerate — and some even love — that pesky cliffhanger.
So… I’m going with the cliffhanger. I’m going with two books, two separate entities, though I originally wrote it as one story.
I’m going with a story that feels half-baked when it winds to a close, and as a reader I’d be ripping my hair out and flinging the book at the wall.
Because, you see…
I personally hate cliffhangers, romantic or not, and prefer to have all the words available if I choose to read on.
I personally hate short books with cliffhangers, as it feels like I’ve been cheated into buying another one. (Bitch, I’m cheap!)
…But does it change things, if each book is long, like mine are? Hmmm…
…And does it change things, if I throw in a preview of what’s coming up? (I do)
…And does it change things, if I make it VERY clear in the blurb that this IS a cliffhanger?
…And does it change things, if I have the preorder link with a two-month gap in between?
Sigh.
I’m still doing, as a writer, what I would hate to have done to me, as a reader!
I personally still see Darren’s and Luisa’s story (and oh lordie, it’s a doozy!) as one holistic entity.
But no sane person needs that giant brick 775+ page opus; that might scare everyone away from the jump!
There are far too many good reasons to split it, than there are NOT to!
Plus… my 385-page print of what’s now going to be Book 2 is such a cute size to hold 🙂 …
*Deep breath*…
Cliffhanger, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship…
“I am not typically a fan of first person viewpoint writing but for this book, it works very well. The author managed to create two individual people within the story and tell a first person view from each of them and they did not get lost in each other, nor did one overpower the other.” (Red – see full review here.)
This is perhaps one of the best compliments I’ve gotten so far on my debut published novel Climbing The Walls (Hart & Cole Book 1) – one I didn’t even think of, when writing.
Because, of COURSE my characters don’t get lost in each other – to me, they never will; they never can. They are each so individual, so unique, to me… so I’m thrilled my readers are also able to GET that.
Because here’s the thing:
Kris and Nicole – they’re both fully (and individually!) formed in my head. I’ve only just barely edited them.
In writers’ circles you have to be one or the other – either you have a plan and you outline everything, or you just write and see where it takes you. So, which am I?
I revealed my own secret through the character of Nicole, a part-time writer:
That’s rule number one about writing a novel. Never tell your agent, publisher, husband, or anyone even remotely involved with your book that you don’t know jack shit about what your book’s gonna be like.
Have faith that if you start somewhere, one night the words will grip you and you’ll be typing like a possessed creature and you’ll fall asleep slumped over the computer and wake up in the morning to discover what you’ve written.
It’s rare that ideas are going to come if you sit calmly day after day in front the machine with slotted times to work on the book. It’s whenever you’re haunted, whenever you want to get away from your own life, whenever you’re possessed. That’s when the inspiration hits. That’s when you grin on the inside and think, JACKPOT.
Writing’s a lot like sex –– when you’re not getting any it can be the worst thing in the world, but then when it comes and it’s good it’s great and worth all the nights you weren’t getting any.
Yep, that was my cheeky nod to the writing process.
If you’ve got a keen eye for detail, you’d have noticed that Nicole’s writer’s block happens on Chapter 6 of her novel (and it happens in Chapter 6 of mine!).
In law, in business, “Chapter 11” connotes bankruptcy. For me, Chapter 6 is the tipping point – just past the halfway mark between throwing in the towel and deciding to make it work.
Kris and Nicole have been married for 6 years before all hell breaks loose – beginning with the aftermath of their nasty fight that opens Chapter 1.
6 is the magic number here.
Chapter 6 of Nicole’s novel is the point when she decides to scrap everything and start over. It was also my point when the story fully took hold – when Nicole grabbed ahold of me and didn’t let go.
Hopefully Chapter 6 of their marriage is Nicole’s and Kris’ turning point, as well. God, I hope so. I hope I ended on a positive note, despite the journey getting there, despite the journey Nicole took me on.
Yes… Nicole. Sure Kris, was there too, but he was along for the ride.
Nicole was the one that pushed me, scrabbling at my brain and speeding those possessed fingers over the keyboard in the wee hours of the morning.
You see, Nicole is NOT necessarily a protagonist. You’re not supposed to love her.
Yes, I had trouble connecting with her at first. (And readers have said the same.) Everyone loves Kris – he’s easy to love.
He’s railing against himself to fight off the forces struggling to bury him… and he succeeds for a moment, only to plunge right afterward – self-destructing, seeking salvation, and susceptible; for the first time: susceptible.
But even in his darkest, weakest moment when he ultimately completely sh*ts the bed, you still feel sorry for him; you feel disappointed, sure, but you still feel compassion.
Nicole… not so much.
…But from Chapter 6, she was under my skin. She scraps her novel, and starts writing a story based on a memory of her childhood – and that’s when she became fully real to me.
The memory is about sex, which has always been easy for her to give away. Sex is easy. Everything else is the problem.
But you don’t – you can’t – “become” Nicole overnight… so how did she get there?
Where does she come from; what does she come from; who does she come from?
How does a girl turn into this monster bitch that can’t stop herself from making the wrong decisions?
How does a girl turn into a woman that goes from zero to a hundred – lashing out, vicious sexual seduction, profound intimacy – in a split second?
She’s scraped a piece of herself into everything she’s written. She’s all over the place. She was broken from the jump. That’s how.
She’s NOT a protagonist. Hell, I hated her, half the time. But that didn’t mean I had permission to stop telling her story. She wouldn’t let me stop telling it.
I’m working on Book 4 now, and I’m not even remotely done with her yet.
She’s already had her moments with Darren – coming up in Book 2 & Book 3 [and OH MY GOD, I LOVE WRITING SCENES FOR THOSE TWO!…] and still, for the life of me… I can’t stop.
She’s flowing out of me, this mongrel-mulatto journalist/writer b*tch.
I’m a pantser, oh baby I’m such a pantser, but only because she’s already been hard at work, plotting.
She’s eating me alive… she’s devouring all the other imaginary friends in my head, pushing ahead of everyone else to stamp her way through everything.
…And for the life of me… for the life of Nicole, God help me… I can’t stop.
When I saw the question, quite innocently posed on a Facebook Author group, my biggest surprise was that the responses were NOT a resounding “YES”!
To me, it was. I mean, of COURSE you need a website.
Granted, I make a living building and managing websites, so I may be a *wee* bit biased, but this one should be a no-brainer!
For any business — and, make no joke about it, being an author (particularly a self-published one) is a BUSINESS! — you need to have a website.
The poster’s logic was that — “Well, I have a Bookbub profile, a Goodreads profile, a Facebook page, an Instagram account… just so many things to manage! And I’m so not techy…”
Yeah, honey, I hear you… but you need to buckle up and get techy, and fast — or pay someone to do it for you.
Another argument from other posters was: “Well, I’VE never sought out an author website, not even for my favourite authors. Who goes to these things anymore, when there’s social media?”
But, even if you yourself don’t visit author websites, how do you know readers don’t? What about reviewers, filmmakers, a magazine writer looking for new talent, or even other bloggers that may be interested in linking to your site?
Sure, you have an ideal “reader” in mind, but you’re only limiting yourself.
You can’t just only put yourself where you THINK people will be. You need to put yourself in a good position for them to find you, whichever way they want to.
Ask yourself this: if Facebook or Instagram were to go belly-up tomorrow, what would happen to the following you’ve built up there?
Or, even more common lately: what if they change their algorithm (a seemingly daily habit by Facebook) and your fans can’t see your posts anymore?
Yep. A very scary, and very real possibility.
When you leave your following at the mercy of a company that has no interest in your personal success, anything can happen.
A website should be your key point of reference as a professional of any kind.
As a writer, a website should be your home on the web where your online presence can shine. It is the first assurance to your reader or possible reviewer that your work is of a high quality.
Think of your website like the foundation to a house.
It’s your homebase — a digital property you own and control, where your loyal fans gather. It’s where you direct all your traffic, where you can best sell your products the way you want to.
It’s where all roads should lead back to, regardless of the digital footprints you’ve stamped around all over the internet.
When you post a blog to your website, you can share that on your Facebook or Instagram page. When you add a chapter excerpt, you can send your fans there to collect it.
When you publish your book, a new reader that stumbled upon your website should be able to hop across to your purchase page on Amazon.
When you want to share your frustration, or give out advice to other aspiring writers, you can write something on your website and then drop a link to it on LinkedIn or your other social media sites.
A website is the one place you won’t have to categorise your book and choose where it should go.
It’s your soapbox. It’s where you stand and tell the world who you are, what you write, and why they should buy your book.
It’s the one place you get to tell your FULL story, with no limitations, the way you want it to be told.
Okay, so now that we’ve established you DO need to have a website, it’s important to note that, as pointed out by this fellow blogger:
An author website has a lofty goal: it needs to not just be, but also needs to perform and respond.
It can feel like a HUGE time-suck to build all the content across a myriad of platforms, but if there’s one thing you shouldn’t sacrifice, it’s your author website.
Of course, writers just want to write.
But in today’s world, you can’t just write and put work out and hope someone buys it. You need to hone your craft — and a key part of honing your craft is ORGANISING the honing of your craft.
That’s what an author website does.
Since authors spend most of their time fine-tuning their masterpieces, they may not always put a lot of thought into their websites, which is a shame.
A website needs to fulfill your needs as a writer… you can’t just throw anything up there and hope it sticks!
Outline what your goals are for your site. A few key goals for authors should be:
Tell Your Story — before you Sell Your Story.
Finally… the best part of your website is that you get to track its success.
Pop some analytics code on it, and see what pages your visitors are flocking to. Are they interested in chapter excerpts, newsletter sign-ups, video trailers?
They’re your readers. They’re your future fans.
A website lets you find out what they want — and give it to them. So, get cracking!
…And if you do need some techy help to crank out your website, just drop me a line here.
I hate flying.
But if you’re a traveller, you have to bear with the means of transport to get there. Yep… airplanes.
I began writing this post while on an airplane kicking off my mega-vacation — Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.A. and my old stomping ground of London, England. 4 flights and 3 weeks later, I’m now back home — and yep, I’m still not a fan of flying!
I could tell you a zillion things I don’t like about flying. Off the top of my head:
So yeah… not a fan of flying!
But once you get land, once you get there… there’s relief.
I guess that’s what the writing process is, sometimes.
Just like with flying, I could name more than a zillion things I don’t like about the post-publication phase of being a writer.
I’m not a fan of marketing myself. Everything seems to be stacking up against me as I swim in this vacuum of knowledge I didn’t realise I didn’t have, until it’s called for and I realise I don’t!
Actually getting your name out there takes hard work and a LOT of legwork.
You’re trying to be friendly and approachable [social media], not offend anyone [author groups], be a technical wizard [the bajillion websites to sign up and social media specs to follow], a marketing guru and queen of promotion [Amazon/Facebook ads] — all while shopping your soul around to strangers!
I’ve been stomping around in cyberspace for about two months now, accumulating quite the Digital Author footprint on what seems like a zillion sites.
I’ve been creating content like a mofo, spending far too long debating what to post and what not to post and what to reveal and what to hold back.
I’ve been cross-pollinating my social media and wondering — would I be pissed off if I followed someone on three forums who posted the same thing I’m tired of seeing?
So… yeah… make no joke, being a self-published writer is EXHAUSTING.
…BUT, I’m loving it.
Just like travelling, I can’t get enough of this writing journey, this author crack that I’ve been bingeing on for the past 2 months.
Just like travelling, I have to bear with the “flying” part and the “fear” part, to get to the good stuff.
Because despite the *awful* moments of self-doubt that are almost as bad as airplane toilets and turbulence, there’s also the great moments…
…WOW. Yep, relief.
Someone gets me. Someone gets them.
I’ve done my job.
I’ve taken flight.
I just did an Author Interview with a fabulous online platform for readers and writers to connect: check out Qwerty Thoughts on their website, Facebook page or Instagram feed.
My interview blurb:
Read the conversation between Sacha and Qwerty Thoughts about her Book 1, “Climbing the Walls“, in the real-life romance, Hart and Cole series.
She has a lot of works-in-progress and her series is based on what she believes “A marriage is not a happy ending; it’s a beginning of so much more to come.”
In the interview, I talk about my Hart & Cole series, my favourite writers, my journey as a writer, challenges as a writer, and my advice for budding writing talent!
Visit the QwertyThoughts website to read the full interview:
I’m participating in the Instagram #BAWritingLife challenge by author Bethany Atazadeh and figured I should also be posting these to my blog!
Yesterday was Day 1: introduce yourself and why you write. Here’s my story!
I’m a #Trinidadian or #Trini (as we say it) and therefore a #CaribbeanGirl by birth, but I consider myself to be a #CitizenOfTheWorld.
I’ve lived in the UK, travelled throughout Europe and the Caribbean (with SO many locations on my “to go” list!), and now operate my business (Writing, Editing, Print & Web Design Services) for both local and international clients.
Beyond my professional skills, I WRITE. IT’S WHAT I DO.
For me, writing is an identity. A writer is just as distinct as a sexuality; a gender; a religion; a nationality. Writing is a state of being.
Though I’ve been WRITING forever, I only recently decided to PUBLISH. This was a huge step for me, and one of the bravest things I’ve ever done. It took me 15 years AFTER writing the damn book to actually hit “PUBLISH”!
My first published novel “Climbing The Walls” is part 1 of my Hart & Cole Book series — Parts 2 & 3 are already written, I’m halfway through Part 4, and Part 5 has its seeds in my mind already! So WATCH THIS SPACE.
For me, writing is my journey into myself, to pull something out — something I’ve created; something no one else can create, ever. If it one day it becomes a key source of income, I’ll be thrilled — but not just for the money; but because it means I’ve shared my characters with a wide audience.
My characters deserve to see the light of day. My characters are my longest relationships, and I’m tired of hiding them; of holding them inside me.
I write so that I can let them out into the world. I owe them that. They gave me an identity.
So that’s what I do… I write.
“Right now, this is not the type of book I am looking to read… mostly due to the page count.”
Er… ok. It’s not an epic 2000+ page book I’ve written… but 500+ pages — most of which is dialogue, so there’s a lot of white space.
But the page count alone was my potential blogger-reviewer’s hard “no” from the jump.
…And unfortunately, it’s not something I can change at this point. 🙁
Fair enough, when I myself saw the physical proof copy I was like — yikes, that’s a little on the large side. But I’ve got larger books in my own library — both in height/width and length in terms of pages, so it didn’t scare me TOO much.
But this particular person wasn’t even looking at the physical book. She had no idea of trim size, or font size. She just saw the page number, and took a pass.
I’m wondering — worrying, rather — now, if that’s what readers may do, too.
Have I marketed myself out of the range of the average reader’s tolerance level for a novel length?
I decided to do a little research…
According to Amazon…
…And let’s not go into the epic novels such as the Game of Thrones, where Book 1: A Song of Ice and Fire clocks in at a whopping 864 pages.
Of course, these were all traditionally published novels where the publishing house would have had a say in the final product… and thank God no one told any of these authors, “Yeah… er, pal… you really need to just chop your story down…”
When you’ve already got a major engine running your show, you don’t have to worry too much about length.
Size is just a number, as they say. Or at the very least — you the author won’t need to worry; someone else will do that for you!
However, when it comes to the independent self-published authors, and ebooks, it’s a whole different story.
According to an article on The Huffington Post:
The cold fact is, ebooks by definition are cheap, and however many words you write, you will only be able to charge a small amount for it online. There is little point in writing a door-stopping 200,000-word opus, if you can only charge $2.99 for it.
Rather than spending a year or more producing one full-length title, it may be better to spend that time writing a sequence of three or four shorter eBooks of, say, 20,000 words each. In marketing terms, publishing four times in a year is better than publishing just once.
So if you do want to dive head-first into self-publishing your work as an e-book, it’s in your best interest to “think small”.
In fact, “thinking small” is precisely how Amazon pushes it, as the printing cost gets astronomical if your book is thick. Check Kindle Direct Publishing costs here.
…But my stories didn’t have ebooks or the millennial generation in mind, when I started writing them…
…And now I have to retro-fit to suit?
Rookie publishing mistake… maybe.
When you self-publish (or any kind of publishing, really), as this article on MagnoliaMediaNetwork points out, it’s obvious that:
The longer your book, the more expensive it is to produce. A book that costs more to produce must sell more copies before it becomes profitable.
So, while a larger book justifies a larger retail price, as an indie author/publisher, that’s unfortunately not how it works. You have to consider your reader’s attention span and willingness to:
(1) Read a long book
(2) Pay a buck or two extra for a longer book
Unfortunately, this is the one time that it pays to be smaller.
I tossed out the question to some of my new comrades on various Facebook writer groups, and got a range of responses.
While, of course, in theory the number of pages doesn’t really matter; it should be more about the content… in reality, some of them admitted that most of the books they’ve read as ebooks were about 150-200 pages.
Yikes… I’m still getting a feel of the characters by then! Nothing’s happened yet!
In terms of pacing, I myself prefer to feel like I’m invested in these characters I’m reading about, before their entire life changes in Chapter 2!
Generally, I write until the story feels finished, then tighten up where I can, but apparently that’s just not the way to do it in today’s world.
A fellow author admitted she started each book as an independent work, and ended up with two trilogies! She felt “forced” by modern-day guidelines to chop her work up for the best market-ready approach.
Hmm… should I do this too?
Okay, I’m not in this for the money. I know this.
I’m in this to share my stories, to share my characters, and to fall in love with them all over again when others get to know them.
I don’t expect to become a huge success overnight. Maybe that may not happen at all. And that’s okay.
But if my readers — some of which, of course, will be millennials (and I myself am one!) — don’t want to even read the book because it’s too long… Houston, I think we have a problem.
Well, the cat’s out of the bag with Book 1, and I don’t want to cry over that split milk.
I already know Book 2 is longer than Book 1, and had enough tears over cutting down one of my favourite characters!!!
Maybe I can chop Book 2 up. ***Oh, the horror!***
BUT… does that mean I get to rebuild/re-flesh-out Lee? ***YAY!!!***
(But then I’ll end up with two long books for “Book 2″… lol…)
…And I’ll need to stop calling it “Book 2″… it’ll be Book 2 & 3… though to ME it’s still one story, Darren and Luisa’s story. But to everyone else, it’ll be separate entities…
Oh, and I’ll need another book cover. And another name. OMG!
For now, it’s just a thought. But having all these thoughts means… back to the editorial board… 🙁
There’s a line in Pandora’s Poison (Hart & Cole Book 2), that if a certain person from my past reads it, he will burst out laughing… or at least, I hope so!
Thankfully, I’ll most likely never have to find out. I don’t think he reads much, and if he does, my book won’t be his “cup of tea”.
…And then, there’s an another event in my past that I would love to write about. But I can’t, so I don’t…
There are stories I’ve published on my Creative Writing website, The Writink that were inspired by particular individuals; and quite a few items of Poetry that were inspired by crumbling friendships; a few of these I’ll willingly reveal:
And there’s snippets everywhere, from just about everything that I’ve experienced, that may one day slip into a piece of writing.
…But some things, some things that happen to you… never make it to print. Some things, need to die with you.
Because, as a writer, you are a keeper of everyone’s secrets.
But how do you decide which you should keep, and which can be revamped into your “fiction” piece?
I remember I once posted a status on Facebook that upset someone close to me, who assumed it was a direct personal target. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.
The wonderful thing about being a writer is you’re also an escape artist — you get to hide behind that film of “creative license”. And boy, do some of us just love THAT.
In my case, with that flaming one-liner in Book 2, even if the individual in question does perchance stumble on it one day, I don’t think he’d mind. He might even be flattered.
That’s a rarity.
Not everyone appreciates your/their personal history being “fictionalised” for mass consumption and perhaps even ridicule.
I’m sure everyone remembers a couple of pop culture incidents with a similar theme. Let’s just look at rap music:
Of course, as writers most of us are not celebrities, so while EVERYONE knew exactly what the reference was in those incidents, it’s unlikely readers will know if you use something from your past.
But… the person it’s about, will. So does that mean you can use it?
My rule of thumb, is to first ask yourself: “Who would recognise this?”
Have you shared the incident with your friends, has the other person perhaps done so as well?
If not, you’re on the right track so far. Hopefully, the person may smile at the reference and be thrilled to be in on the inside joke.
The next question, should be: “How much damage could this do?”
Be honest with yourself. You DO know what’s potentially inflammatory, and what’s likely to be harmless.
And finally, “How would the person feel about this?”
You may have an idea. But if you are really not sure, and particularly if it’s a potentially sensitive person, ASK.
Of course, you may not always get it right.
The person you think would be amused, may be pissed off when they learn you’ve lifted from your shared personal experience for your own gain.
And yes, as a writer, you do have some personal creative license.
Inspiration has to come from somewhere, after all!
My own personal preference is to use inspiration lightly — so that the person in question may WONDER, but not necessarily KNOW.
It may not be the best choice… thankfully, so far I’ve survived with this method virtually unscathed.
I know many situations, however, where this wasn’t the case.
So, be careful. As a writer, you have a responsibility to use your craft for good, not evil.
And remember…
For the love of God, just ASK.
“I’m so, so, so sorry, Lee…” I’m almost in tears, as I delete an entire scene with one of my favourite characters.
But I’m down 50 pages already (woohoo!), and all the nips and tucks in the world won’t get me to where I need to go. I need to edit. I need to CUT.
“Climbing The Walls” (Book 1), was already a bit longer than it needed to be (a criticism I’ve received, and taken in stride).
I felt it myself, during the million-and-one edits, but I justified it: for the first book, you need to take a little time to introduce characters and “drop in” snippets of back stories, little kernels of jewels that you can fully pop and allow to bloom in a later installment.
But enough of Book 1.
For now, my mind and heart and soul are buried deep in Book 2…
…Of which, the first draft was already 200 pages longer than Book 1!!!
So… it’s chopping time!
Lee — Alejandro Galeota — who is mentioned briefly in passing in Book 1 of Hart & Cole, and becomes a somewhat central character in Book 2 of Hart & Cole… Lee is awesome.
He’s Luisa’s little brother, and fiercest advocate. He’s Darren’s new protégé and business partner. He’s the children’s favourite uncle; and at only 21, he’s also a big kid himself. He’s dynamic, he’s supportive, he’s sweet, he’s lovable, he’s funny, and he has some of the best one-liners.
He’s also… well, not the point.
He’s there because he needs to be; he’s the reason certain plot points can move forward, and I’ve been thrilled to build his character out as fully as I can… but now, I can’t. I just can’t.
Editing a book is similar to a film or a TV show. I remember when I watched the Behind-the-Scenes/Making Of one of my favourite teen soaps, the iconic early-2000s One Tree Hill.
There was supposed to be an entire story arc of Peyton helping a troubled young girl, and… when it came time to cut… there just wasn’t. As they explained it, in the end…
You have a certain running time, and instead of tweaking every other scene to chip off bits and pieces to string together a story that still makes sense, you go with the easier option: just CHOP one section out entirely.
And, hard luck for the poor actor/actress who was about to make their debut!
After all, I’m sure we all remember the funny scene on Friends, “Joey’s Big Scene” where Joey faked a scene for his grandma, when his character got cut entirely, after he had invited all his friends and family to watch!
Every writer has a process.
I write in Microsoft Word, on a regular 8″ by 11″ letter-sized layout. I do this because I want to have a concept of pages and flow, and in terms of content I know what my chapters should look like, in that layout.
I write EVERYTHING, to start. The story happens in my head in its entirety — every single word of dialogue, every pause, every action, every look between the characters.
Then, I bring it into the template sized for publication (I’ve chosen 6″ by 9″ for Hart & Cole — you can download a sample template here). Here, I see where all the words actually fall, all the orphaned one-words dangling unnecessarily on a line by itself, or the very short page at the end of a chapter.
That’s where my cutting starts — tightening the white spaces.
Yes, you need to leave some of them, to be easy on the eyes, but it’s better to have a half-page or quarter that is blank, than a single line or maybe two on a page by itself!
So, some of the lengthy first draft, thankfully, gets tightened up naturally, once your goal is just to reduce white space.
I also write a lot, I repeat a LOT of dialogue. And there’s only so many times you need to write “he says/she asks”.
Yes, you need enough, so that the reader can follow who is speaking, but I focus on using their actions in between their words rather than identifying the speaker with “he/she says”.
For example, early in Pandora’s Poison (Book 2):
“I am just saying… we used to be friends, Luisianna.”
“No, Gianni.” I uncross my legs and pull my feet up, hugging my knees. “We’re just two people who used to f**k, a lot, a long time ago.”
And, a little later down, when Darren and Nicole see each other for the first time in weeks:
Nicole sighs. Her eyes drop to the box at her feet. “So I’m really fired?”
“You wanted to be fired, baby girl. Be careful what you ask for.” I smile ruefully, chucking my index finger in her direction.
Not once did I use the actual words of “speech”, but you know who’s talking. That way, you can get away with getting rid of about 50% of “he said/she said”.
So… dialogue, white spaces… woohoo! You get a few pages knocked off the top that way.
The real problem comes when you realise you’ve invested 20% into a secondary character, who really only needs 10% or less — no matter how much you love every single word you’ve written for him in every scene.
…So, I’m sorry Lee. I’ll try to do justice to you sometime later on!
First of all, you have to remember that Darren loves Luisa.
…To hell and back.
And she’s taken him there, so she knows.
Second of all, you have to remember that Luisa owes Darren.
Even when he behaves badly (and oh boy; does he!)… she owes him…
My friend and beta reader was determined to dislike Darren, after the end of Book 1 of my Hart & Cole series.
I don’t want to give away spoilers — particularly when I’m not entirely sure when Book 2 will be polished and ready for mass consumption, but basically:
A very, very good man [despite his flaws] did a very, very bad thing.
It’s easy to look at a character like Luisa and label her “weak”, and wonder why on earth she even makes an effort to forgive him, as she does at the start of Book 2. But you have to remember that everyone’s story is not the same.
This a man who loves his mama, and his two girls; and is raising his precocious son to be a good man.
This is a man who did the unthinkable, years ago, to try to save his marriage.
This is a woman who has always loved strong, imposing men.
This is a woman who broke THIS strong, imposing man, time and time again… and she knows this.
So, I repeat: everyone’s story is not the same.
So, yes, up to the end of Book 1, I’m on board with my beta reader friend. I myself, as many women have, have been at the receiving end of a man that crossed the line.
Despite the outcome (and fortunately mine was a “good” outcome), there is that moment of fear, when you’re in an intimate setting… and you’re not 100% sure if your words are going to be enough.
So, like I was saying… there’s no excuse for Darren’s behaviour. And I wholeheartedly agree.
But, you see, here’s the thing: I LOVE Darren.
I’ve loved Darren for 15 years. He’s the longest relationship I’ve ever had.
He’s my favourite character I’ve ever created.
He’s kept me up at night. I’ve rewritten every one of his crucial scenes dozens of times over the years.
He is my Book 2 and Book 3 man, and he’s been the most fully formed character since long before Book 1 even had a title.
Though we meet him throughout Book 1, he doesn’t get to spread his wings until Book 2 and Book 3.
I can’t wait to share him, in his full glory, to the world.
He may be in my imagination, but he’s my muse.
…So I’m determined to make her love him, too. I’m determined to make everyone love him.
…Which means, I’ve got my work cut out for me.
That aside, our ongoing squabble about my character led me to think of how we, as writers, develop our characters.
Is it okay to just let them unfold onto a blank page?
Do we have a list of actions they need to get in, before the story’s climax?
I wish I had such an intricate plan — it would help if I had a bullet point list I could plan around.
For me, my characters control me. I have to wait till they tell me.
They tell me their strengths, their weaknesses, what they can do, what they will do in a situation.
I like to make sure that all my characters learn something and go through something to get them somewhere important in their relationship by the end of each novel.
For Book 1‘s Kris and Nicole, their tumultuous 3-4 months was their relationship’s breaking point… when they were each at their worst.
So how do you keep that in mind, while setting up all the scenes that led them there?
I use a premise-based approach.
My Hart & Cole series overall has a simple premise: RELATIONSHIPS. MARRIAGE. PARENTHOOD. INFIDELITY. INSECURITY. There’s a lot you can do with all of that, without writing an elaborate tale. These are things we all go through at some point in time. These are things we all understand.
Assuming you’re a writer worth even a sprinkle of your salt, once you have the smallest kernel of a story, you can build from that into so much more.
Once you’ve got the premise, you just need to mesh the premise with the characters.
I try to break my premise down to 5 lines or less, and make sure that my characters’ motivation (even though it’s never SAID directly) will trace back to the 5-line character premise.
So, here’s my Book Bible for Book 1:
First of all, you need to know that Kris always wanted kids.
…And Nicole always wanted Kris.
But here’s the thing: you can’t half-ass motherhood and still expect to keep your “perfect” husband.
Second of all, you need to remember:
Mommy forgets everything.
Once you keep that clear 5-line thought in your mind as you write, it’s a lot easier to build scenes around your characters.
If you finish Book 1 of my Hart & Cole series, and then go back to the beginning two chapters (available here), you’ll realise the entire plot is covered in the first two chapters.
Everything that happens, was alluded to there.
All the themes were mentioned; the upcoming “breaking point” event (for *both* of the main relationships)… was right there.
I began with the premise, and I used the premise to help with the foreshadowing of events to come.
By the time Book 2 rolls around, you soon realise Darren’s bad behaviour (from Book 1) was inevitable. Events led him to that point; he didn’t get there on his own.
Then Luisa… I had fun with her, because there’s so much about her character to dislike; she may be the least sympathetic to some readers!
But Luisa’s a good girl. That’s important to remember.
What’s more important to remember is that good girls do bad things.
And the bad girls; the bad boys… sometimes, they are the best of all.
“You’re one of the good ones, Darren Hart,” Nicole says to Darren, in Book 3.
And he is… oh gosh. I promise you, he is.
So like I was saying, I need to make everyone love Darren.
I’ve got my work cut out for me. Let me get back to it…
The question was eating me alive. So, I posted it on several of the Writers’ groups I had recently joined.
Within minutes, my phone was plinging like it was having a seizure.
Responses poured in from all corners of the globe — across the many groups, members amount to 90,000+ writers, and 2000+ of them were leaping and squabbling over each other to share their opinions!
Mind you, this isn’t a “Work In Progress” and no one specifically asked you to be a “beta reader”. Maybe Amazon just gave you a nudge and said “Hey, what did you think of this book?”
You’re a writer. You hated it. Should you tell the world?
One recurring theme, and one I wholeheartedly agree with, is:
Acts of creation take such courage, that by and large, I am hesitant to be publicly critical.
Of course, as a wise member pointed out:
If someone wants to be an author, they can’t be all…. ‘Oh here’s my baby. You need to pay your hard-earned money to read it. But if it’s awful, don’t hurt my feeeelings. Waaaa!’
And another guy was taking no prisoners:
I sharpen my blades and charge in with a lunge to the jugular and leave them bleeding in a pool of hard love.
He was adamant he would want the criticism himself; after all: how can a writer expect to improve their craft if they aren’t given honest feedback?
However, is a public forum, such as the official Amazon book page, the right place for it?
Some opted for trying to get in touch with the writer to share their thoughts.
Others said there was no point: unsolicited peer feedback may rub some writers the wrong way; and also the story is done, there’s no putting the cat back into the bag.
The dilemma is… as a writer, you know what it takes to bleed a story out of you; so is it really necessary to plop a hot mess on your fellow man’s/woman’s parade?
As one member, who runs a book review blog, said:
I have to kiss a dozen frogs before I get a princess… but I just prefer not to kiss and tell.
Almost everyone seemed to agree that you must separate the physical and emotional.
Physically, a book needs to have a plot, sentences that make sense, good grammar and spelling, and something to work with…
Being boring is one thing; being unreadable is another.
Emotionally, quite simply — not everyone is going to connect with every story.
So, while most would holler (whether privately or publicly) — “Hey, straighten up and fly right!” to ensure this writer doesn’t give the profession a bad name, it’s a different story when it comes to the gut reaction of a fairly-written piece of work you just didn’t like.
As one writer pointed out, reading is a “to each his own” situation:
Reviewers are like witnesses to a murder; it has been scientifically documented that they don’t know what they’re talking about because they don’t know what they saw (read).
I wasn’t surprised to see the many, MANY references to the “Twilight” series, and to what one member called “50 Shades of Stockholm Syndrome” 🙂 ??? “I honestly couldn’t get past the first 10 pages, and I tried. I really, really tried.”
Still, these polarising texts made shitloads of money, despite being critically panned by readers and fellow writers alike.
So somebody — lots of somebodies, in fact! — were insta-fans.
Just because you don’t like it, it doesn’t mean others won’t.
So yes, as writers, we all have to have a thick skin; but as the saying goes, opinions are like a**holes — we all have one.
Maybe it just wasn’t your cup of tea, that’s all…
And then, there’s the valid point that in this instance you put on your “Reader” hat, not your “Writer” hat.
One writer argues: “Me being an author shouldn’t come into my review. I am reviewing as someone who has read the book and is a consumer. It is not unprofessional at all.”
It’s understood that as a writer, critical reviews are part of the deal.
You can’t be a writer if you refuse to listen to your audience.
And, here’s the thing: there are also WRITERS in your audience.
At the same time, writing can be a very singular, isolating profession.
“Author” simply doesn’t have the same rules as almost every other profession whereby it’s understood the mud-slinging will come back to hit you in the face (rapper-beefs, anyone?!).
Your bottom line isn’t affected by this writer’s novel that didn’t move you. If you’re not a fan, you can quietly be “not a fan”!
As a writer, you see…
…All we have are our words.
We can, but should we really attack our own?
Another theme that popped up in response to my hot-button topic was the popularity of the writer, and the stage at which negative feedback is given.
It’s one thing to review someone who already has a huge following. Your nasty review isn’t taking a penny away from E. L. James or Stephenie Meyer.
Stephen King was NOT a fan… but, so what?Stephen King, one of my own personal favourite writers, wrote witheringly and scathingly of the Twilight series. Many agreed with him… but hey, as SK himself says:
You can be a terrible writer… and still be successful.
But what about the newbie independent self-published authors, who work a million times harder to scrape their soul into their work and then painstakingly shop it around?
For an emerging author, your bad review — however “constructive” you think it is — can discourage them entirely, not to mention massively daunt their sales.
It seems that a lot of writers, especially indie writers, are uncomfortable messing with another indie writer’s money. Karma’s a bitch, right? Better safe than sorry…
Still, reviews are a form of social proof, and we’re more likely to buy something with a ton of reviews — even bad reviews — than we are to try something no one else has bothered to try.
It just remains to be seen whether writers think they have an objective place where they can wear both hats, or if being a writer himself/herself has tainted the lens when they read a book.
As one writer argues:
“I’m not saying NOBODY should give bad reviews; I’m just saying: as writers ourselves, maybe we should just stay out of it.”
Or, as someone compared it:
Would you yell at a co-worker in front of a client?
At the end of the day, a book isn’t like a regular consumer product on Amazon; it is more opinion-based, so you don’t always need to be purposefully cruel under the guise of being kind (at least not in public)!
Saying nothing at all may be your choice so as not to hurt anyone, but it also means you are choosing to not help anyone.
So, writers, if you do decide to switch hats and bang out a review for something that ruffled you the wrong way…
Be honest, but kind and constructive.
Think:
How would you like someone to phrase it if it was a review for your book? What can you commend, instead of just rip apart? How would their phrasing it help you to improve?
If the author is worthy of the label, he or she should be able to spin that bitter lemonade into something amazing, later on.
And assuming the writer hasn’t produced UTTER trash, his/her fan base will rise up one day and outweigh the negative reviews.
Hop on over to Amazon…
Now that I can say I’ve finally, at long last, published a novel, my thoughts circled back to this TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie, one of my favourite pieces on writing.
While her focus is on the danger of the “single story”, the part that resonated with me most was at the beginning — the conundrum of writing and representation.
I experienced a similar childhood to this prolific Nigerian writer.
My father loves literature, and he would give me books by Trinidadian V.S. Naipaul… but for the most part, the books I was reading were by authors like Enid Blyton (UK) and Judy Blume (US).
In them, there was no abuse; no abject poverty; no cringing shame of one’s existence beyond tepid teenage angst.
It was a nicer world than what Trinidadian and Caribbean literature had to offer me.
And so, when I wrote (and I wrote a LOT as a child), I wrote for a US/UK audience. I wrote things I liked to read.
Teachers were thrilled I wrote; many children struggle to string a sentence together. So they didn’t care what I wrote…
Just the fact that I was writing was enough!
Then, in secondary/high school, after a few years of literature texts such as The Secret Garden (UK), To Kill A Mockingbird (US), and The Pearl (US); I was introduced to Annie John (Antigua, Caribbean).
As a child, I did not like Annie John.
It was too stark, too familiar; not foreign enough. It made me uncomfortable.
However, another Caribbean book by Trinidadian Samuel Selvon, A Brighter Sun, I thoroughly enjoyed.
The cultural references were rich; but notably, one key theme was the American influence on the country’s geography and economy, and on the main characters.
It felt familiar, but still foreign enough.
Now as an adult, I have a much greater appreciation for Annie John.
I also still love A Brighter Sun along with another popular Sam Selvon one: The Lonely Londoners (about the Windrush generation settling in the UK), which also had a theme that straddled that fine balance between “familiar” and “foreign”.
This is not to say I don’t like books that feel completely local — one of my faves of all time is Roslyn Carrington’s A Thirst For Rain, and I also loved most of the collected short stories in Trinidad Noir.
So… I enjoy reading both local and foreign texts. There’s that.
The problem is, I’m not just a reader; I’m a writer.
As a writer, your personal preferences and tastes are called into question. In my case, the foreign education that seeped into my local experience resulted in a displacement of self.
I’m also of the generation whereby the Internet and mass media suddenly heaved a heap of influence onto youth at the most critical time of their personal development.
In my house, local and foreign influences lived side by side; and as a young adult I’ve also lived abroad.
So, all in all, I’m not sure if I’ve had the “typical” Trinidadian experience to be able to comfortably, naturally, unthinkingly write something similar to the “local” or “regional” books I do happen to enjoy.
Does that make me less of a “Trinidadian” writer (as I’ve stated in my official bio on my first published novel, on my website, and just about everywhere?)…
Case in point: Harriet’s Daughter by Tobago-born Canadian Marlene Nourbese Philip addressed the experience of displacement from the Caribbean to Canada.
Despite being part of the burgeoning diaspora, she managed to produce a novel that straddled the divide so well, that Canadian, UK, and Caribbean schools used it for the school curriculum! Wow!
…But then, this was in 1988. It’s now 30 years later.
How likely would this feat be now, in today’s world?
I’ve discussed this displacement with a few established Trinidadian writers (several years my senior), and discovered that I’m not alone.
If they, too, identify with that internal war, what does the future hold for generations to come, with even more and more foreign media influences?
I, myself, struggle to begin to write a “Trinidadian” or “Caribbean” novel.
I have managed to write some short stories and poetry/prose like this one, once: Big Tune.
Even then, I wanted to call it “Big Chune” (local parlance)… but I stopped myself.
That’s the other worry — the more “local” I make it, the less it would appeal to (or be understood by!) an international audience.
That’s essentially what happened when foreign reviewers came across Robert Antoni’s “How To Make Photocopies in the Trinidad & Tobago National Archives” (included in Trinidad Noir).
I absolutely LOVED this short story.
However, if I wasn’t born and bred in T&T, well God help me!… there’s very little chance I would have understood more than a few words!
Generally, I don’t “place” my stories. My first published novel left out “place” entirely…
But now that I am older, and even more so now that I’ve decided to publish my writing, it is no longer good enough just that I write, but now it’s become an issue of what I write.
American and British writers can claim their heritage openly without hesitation, and can write (more or less) anything they please about any part of the world… and no one questions it.
But when you’re from a small part of the world that hardly anyone knows about… well, you’re expected to write about your unique experience of this small part of the world, right?
I have to represent Trinidad; I have to represent the Caribbean; I have to represent the developing world. I mean… shouldn’t I?
But… why should I? And, what if I don’t?
Part of the “Fear & Procrastination” that took me 15 years to publish my first novel, was that I was worried what my friends and family — Trinidadians — would think.
Did they expect something different, something else, from me? Would I disappoint them?
At one point, my writing halted entirely. It took a long while to get over that feeling and to JUST PUBLISH THE DAMN THING ALREADY.
And hey, maybe someday, I’ll be able to write a brilliant Trini novel.
…I just hope I won’t have to force it.
“So, you wrote a book, huh? Congrats! Er, hmph… romance? Ahh… not my cup of tea…”
Let’s get one thing straight. As I clarify in my Hart & Cole Author Q&A, I am not a romance writer.
Or, at least, I never saw myself as a romance writer.
But it’s easy to see how genres blur into each other and become something else.
After all, the now-infamous erotica trilogy started out as “Twilight” fan fiction, and readers (who perhaps never even knew it was ever fan fiction!) may spend months arguing over whether it’s a love story or just erotica.
…But why does it have to be one or the other?
Why does everything have to fit into a box?
If you read the excerpt of Hart & Cole Book 1 (Chapters 1 & 2), you’ll realise it’s not the typical “romance” genre…
However, when you go to actually publish something, you’re forced to choose genres, and then “romance” ends up being my default fall-back option.
But I don’t write romance.
A typical romance has two single characters that squabble for no damn good reason for a few hundred pages, and wind up lip-locked or in bed by the end (depending on how “Christian” the author is — no pun intended 🙂 ).
Now, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my fair share of this stereotype, with their page-turning, swashbuckling heroes and heroines… but I just can’t write that. I don’t want to write that.
My Hart & Cole characters are married, with kids. Their day-to-day lives and dialogue make up 75% of the story. This isn’t the typical romance — but about what happens AFTER the “I do”. There’s no “for-sure” happy ending.
That’s because I don’t write romance. I write relationships. I write people.
And, once you decide that you write people, anything can happen.
My series can become anything I want it to.
I’m the writer. I get to decide how far into the light or how deep into the darkness I want to go.
You, the reader, only get to decide if to follow me there.
…But, if you like reading fantasy, or sci-fi, or action, or horror… for God’s sakes, don’t read my book. You won’t find any of that there!
My “idea” of my typical reader (I could be wrong) is a young to middle-aged woman who likes watching TV dramas, appreciates an easy-to-read novel with a simple plot and loads of dialogue, can tolerate a little cursing (okay, okay — a lot, by some characters!), enjoys a love-making scene that isn’t totally pornographic/erotica, and — most importantly… likes characters that are real people, and inherently flawed.
So, if you’re my audience, WOOHOO!
But… if you’re not, that’s okay too. If you know you like reading those other genres, and that’s all you like, then don’t read my book just because you want to say you’ve read it!
I appreciate the support, but give it willingly with an open mind! 🙂
And, remember… there are other ways to support your “writer friend” without enduring reading a book you know you won’t like!
We live in a shareable world driven by social media influencers, and amidst the cacophony of noise, any little nudge will help.
You can share my posts, my promotional images, my Author website, my purchase links (Kindle or paperback), my Facebook page @SFortuneAuthor, my Instagram feed @sfortuneauthor, or my Twitter feed @authorsfortune.
Or, if you’re not on social media, no prob… you can do the old-school version of this. Drop it into a convo: “Hey, so my friend published a novel…” Yeah, it’s that simple.
So, if my book isn’t your cup of tea, but you do know someone who fits the bill, just spread the word!
So… Hart & Cole Book 1.
It’s officially out. It’s published.
It’s available. ANYONE can get it, ANYWHERE in the world. On ebook or paperback. It’s OUT THERE.
I’m excited. I’m thrilled. But more than anything, I am, in a word… TERRIFIED.
I’m fortunate to be able to say I’ve accomplished a lot of great things in my life, but still — just being able to push that “Publish” button, and open the whole wide world to a piece of my mind… it’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to do.
I’m not kidding when I say I’ve been sitting on this book for over a decade and a half. It’s the first book I wrote for adults — and I began writing it when I was just at the cusp of being one myself, in 2002! I finished it somewhere around 2003-2004 or so, and then… I sat on it.
Well, I shared it with a few friends and family via email or hard copy, and I shared excerpts at Writers’ Guild at my uni, Lancaster University. And, that was it.
It just sat there.
Half a dozen times, I looked into publishing — more specifically, self-publishing — but I didn’t follow through. Back then, self-publishing was practically unheard of.
By 2011-2012, e-readers became ubiquitous. I regained interest in self-publishing, and fine-tuned the blurb.
It took awhile to cut it down to something that could easily capture what the book is about, without giving too much away.
Then… I sat on it some more.
Around 2015, I felt the urge again to get back on this project, so I looked into getting a cover done.
I asked two graphic designer friends who, separately, took forever to produce nothing.
I love them still, though… and as one of them (who hadn’t read the book) scolded me:
“This is YOURS. You can’t leave it up to me to create your cover. YOU know what it needs to look like.”
Damn right.
I found this to be even truer and more relevant, when I found a professional (read: “a stranger, with a deadline, who was actually getting paid“) to do the cover, via the freelancer site Fiverr. Her first draft was awful.
I can’t blame her for that though — she didn’t know me, or my characters. But once I gave her some guidance, she delivered.
I had to find the photos myself — which took eons to stumble upon the main “perfect” one, and the others from which to sample.
Then, I told her how I wanted it edited — mainly, my character needed more hair. Lots of it: curly, wild, crazy hair.
I know graphics… so I know you need to be talented to be able to work with human hair! I love the final product, and I’ve used the same designer again for my Book 2 cover.
But I knew, while I was fretting and taking — quite literally — years to do a book cover!… I knew that my first book cover, my first foray into the Hart & Cole series, my Book 1 covergirl, my “Nicole” (and you get this sense of entitlement, of protective ownership about “your” characters) is mixed-race, sexy, and vulnerable.
The cover has to say all of that.
Hopefully, it did.
Getting the cover done was a huge step that propelled me the rest of the way.
I made it the screensaver/background on my phone, so that I looked at it every day — constantly, until it pissed me off that I kept seeing it and hadn’t published it yet!
Then, I did my research.
Amazon is a great publishing platform. There are LOADS of others. I chose Amazon because of its popularity. There are drawbacks, but nothing that was a dealbreaker for me.
The one thing I did find in my research worth mentioning (which many, many, many people stand by, if you are serious about being a writer) is that you should get your own ISBN.
It took me quite a bit of running around to figure this one out, and after contacting international and then regional agencies, I found out Trinidad & Tobago has our own ISBN agency in the National Public Library.
So, ISBN purchased, I had no excuse now.
All that was holding me back was myself.
I proofed my book again several times on-screen — adding comments to its PDF version with Adobe Acrobat Reader, then making the edits in Microsoft Word, and then again while I was creating the e-book version through Kindle Create.
Then, I printed hard-copy proof copies through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing and when they arrived in the mail, I proofed those several times yet again.
I chose between a range of template sizes for the book; here are some awesome tools to get what you need: KDP Manuscript Templates and KDP Cover Templates. I played around with glossy and matte covers, and white and cream paper.
Tip: White paper is a little thinner, so the cover template will be off-balance if you sized it for cream paper! (I learned this the hard way!)
I eventually settled on a glossy cover, with cream interior paper.
And, each time I printed it, I proofed it for errors yet again.
I’m sure if I proof it another time, I’ll still find things I want to change.
But…
At some point, you need to let go.
You need to let go of your characters, so that you can share them with others.
And, most importantly: you need to let go of that fear of failure.
Publishing — overcoming that fear to hit that “Publish” button — is still just only one tiny step to becoming a writer.
Next comes… Marketing. Eek.
I’ve said it before, and it’s my professional motto: “I Write. It’s What I Do.”
I literally can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. As soon as I could hold a pencil, I had stories to share, things to say, things that needed to be said.
I have poems and stories and random snippets of things from kindergarten, elementary/primary school, high/secondary school, both universities, all years of employment — some creative fiction, some poetry/prose, some personal brain-dump diaries.
Some of it has been or will be published in some form — whether it’s a book on Amazon like my Hart & Cole series, poetry or short stories on my The Writink website, or even just a simple Facebook post — but most of it is scattered in copybooks stashed somewhere in my cupboard, or in draft emails/posts dangling out in cyberspace.
Or, most importantly: knocking about in that cranial space between my ears where magic sometimes happens.
Even if I don’t share it all (I think I’d exhaust the universe with the sheer force of all the words), I have been writing… forever.
So yes, I write. It’s what I do.
But don’t misinterpret the motto. Writing’s not just “a thing” I do. Writing is an identity. A writer is just as distinct as a sexuality, a gender, a religion, a nationality.
It’s a state of being.
I quite like Eliot Rose’s piece on “The Difference Between a Writer and Someone Who Writes”, in particular:
A writer’s mind is sticky, cavernous. It is a locus of constant invention and generation, but also of deconstruction and warfare.
And:
A writer understands the capacity for words to embolden, to eviscerate, to cut a man in half. A writer’s words have texture and an aesthetic – they mean one thing on paper and another in your mouth.
For me, it’s a little something like that. I think writers see the world differently. I think writers see words differently. For a writer, a word is a living, breathing organism.
Do you know what’s beautiful about words?
Unlike math or science, no formula will produce the exact same result twice.
The synapses, the cognitions, the connections, may ricochet and interact…
But imitation is its own flattery that cannibalises itself.
Genre notwithstanding, no two writers can independently produce the same piece.
In fact, no one writer can produce the same piece with significant lapse of time and memory.
No — each piece owns its own emotion, its own moment in time. The nuances, the perspectives. Each is a kernel in and of itself, a singular atom in spite of itself, a gem both in and out of its context.
The beauty of language, of words tumbling over each other to find their right places, of craft being created, to be witnessed by the eyes of others.
The simplicity of unpredictability is beautiful.
…Even though it’s scary, sometimes…
To put pen to paper and discover what pours forth from the intricacies of the festering mind…
…Or, as Eliot Rose says:
She will give you her soul always. And she will give it to you in writing.
