writer journey - Sacha T. Y. Fortuné

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On Writing

Support & The Solitude of the Writer Life

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Writing a book is like starting a business. (And I’ve done both.)

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.

The Business of Support

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.

The (Writer) Cheese Stands Alone

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!

Solitude & Sacrilege

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.

Education & Understanding

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.

 

 

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On Writing

Taking a Break from the Book Baby

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I’m barely two weeks back from vacation and my world is still coming back into focus.

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…

Real-life emotional toll

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.

Writer on vacay (sorta)…

Well, I do need to mention a couple of significant “writer” updates that happened while I was on vacation.

I made a definitive decision to reduce Book 1 of my series.

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!

I got an award as a first-time author in my country.

My award from NALIS in recognition of publishing my first novel

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!

Next Steps…

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.

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Hart & Cole Series

The Post-Publish Big Chop: Should I Fix My Fat Book Baby?

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Now that my third book is LIVE, I can take a little time to reflect on the journey thus far.

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…

Back to the Beginning…

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!

Length as a Hindrance for Reader Interest

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?

Planning for the long (book) trip

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.

Going backward to go forward

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”?…

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On Writing

A Conversation with a Skeptic-Friend-Turned-Fan

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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:

 

Confession: “I didn’t plan to read your book”

“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.

 

Why are “friends” the last to believe?

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:

  • They’ll say “congrats” a million times and tell everyone you’re awesome… but never buy the book
  • They’ll share your post and/or tell others you wrote a book, and pretend they’ve read it
  • They’ll browse reviews and then tell you they’ve read the book, when you absolutely 100% know they haven’t
  • They’ll buy the book with no intention of ever reading it, and tell you “I’m supporting you with a sale”

…Yeah. And this is the supportive friend, which many authors are not even lucky enough to have!

 

Somewhat salty support…?

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!

 

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Hart & Cole Series

“Pandora’s Poison” – countdown: 6 weeks!

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EEEK! Are you ready? I sure am.

Today we are officially 6 weeks away from the launch of Book 2 of my Hart & Cole series!

I wish I could release it NOW, but I know I need to be thorough with my editing — plus, I also need to be patient and have an actual marketing plan this time around! LOL.

First on this plan is putting it up for pre-order, which I just did today.

It’s a little scary to commit to a date when you know you’re still FRICKING EDITING THE DAMN THING, but I did it!

Jan 22nd is my birthday — so publishing Book 2 will be my birthday gift to myself.

Buy Now (ebook)

 

The second time around…

I started writing Darren’s and Luisa’s story (Book 2 & Book 3) at least 12 or 13 years ago, and finally finished writing the first draft in 2016 after my beta reader friend read the first half and SCREAMED at me to finish it!

…And I have just been sitting on the damn thing ever since.

Now, it’s almost time to release it to the world.

I’ve spent the last 5-6 months learning from my own mistakes, learning from others, and absorbing all the info I possibly can from the amazing network of fellow Indie writers.

And I’m ready this time. I’m ready for Darren & Luisa to meet you all. ??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buy Now (ebook)

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