Writer, Wroter, Reader

I love the website Daily Writing Tips!

I love multiple tips from lots of people!

One tip: Write the first draft spontaneously. Switch off your internal editor until it is time to review your first draft.

I did that, cranked out a good first draft, and happily discovered, after letting a few friends read it, with varying requests for their perspective, that the manuscript was a glorious mess!

That might daunt others, but I have an advantage this time of not having an invisible potential agent or publishing house query letter leader/rejecter leaning over my shoulder. I don't care what some editor 3,000 miles away thinks of this book. I may never go back to trying to published by what remains of the mainstream or small press houses. With so few opportunities, and such specific markets dictating what gets published, DIY authors are running loops around the traditional industry.

This NY Times article shows how amazon.com is circumventing traditional methods, and publishers are worried.

I'm not. I sold more Kindle editions of my first three novels in the past four months than were sold in the past year. It took me a few hours, cost me nothing, and the little checks keep rolling in.

I've been much more open about sharing this new work than with previous projects. Perhaps it's because I'm on quite a roll at work, and everything I write there is for public consumption. Everything gets read, hopefully checked in advance, sometimes, corrected later.

One friend was nervous when I kept grilling him for mistakes or questions. Another dove in and helped me realize problems with the work, which led to thousands more words, which led to more problems, which led to even more fun.

Because it's really about having fun, or why the hell am I spending so many nights clacking away in front of my computer?

I get several requests from fledgling authors about the end game: How do I get published? How do I get an agent? How do I convert my novel to an e-book? How do I get more sales?

The answers are simple and complicated. First, finish the damn book before fretting! The other is, write a good book!

Really. Check out all these articles about fiction writing that explain quite clearly a lot of aspects of writing and publishing.

Now, go and write a good book.