Two Years of Books
It has been two years since I began this process and it has been a long, yet swift journey. I am always fascinated that a single moment can feel like eternity, and an eternity can feel like a single moment.
It has been a fun, but difficult journey, and I love that I'm still having new ideas all the time for other stories. This can be difficult because I have to write the book I'm on first before I can write the next one, and with all the ideas I find myself having to put up a wall to ignore them, or write them down and put them somewhere safe. If I didn't I would go a bit mental trying to juggle everything in my head. I am grateful for all the inspiration and creativity, but sometimes I wish I knew what it felt like to have a well of ideas that I can draw from when I chose, and not and ocean that requires a wall to block it. However there is a wall, and it is strong, so I am excited for the life I have, and the opportunity to keep creating with out any fear of running out of ideas.
The show goes on...
I have finally finished the first draft of the second book in The Chronicles of Elementary series. 'Nurture Fails, Nature Remains' is looking to be as good as I hoped, but it needs a lot of editing. This however is going to have to wait.
I am 20,000 words in to a stand alone book and want it done a.s.a.p. I will continue this project tomorrow and if I work hard, and all goes according to plan, I hope to have it fully finished and online by May (and then Nurture fails, Nature Remains complete and online by July). The art work is all done, and the cover and title are ready to be turned into a graphic, so all I have to do is write. I'm hoping to average 2000 words a day. This will require discipline and sacrifice for the short term, but it will be beneficial in the long term. I'm excited for this story and I cannot wait to have it finished. Let the hard work begin :).
Marketing
This is going well and I have had a few more 'likes' on the Facebook page. This is exiting because I am assuming these people have read my book, and I am so grateful they have taken a leap of faith and given my book a chance. (If any of those who have joined the Facebook page read this, I just want to say a huge thank you, and if you have any feedback, or comments, I would love to read them on the Facebook page).
I also put my book on Amazon kindle to try and get some more exposure, and time will tell if that is productive or not.
As always there is more marketing in the pipeline, and I will update when these go ahead.
One Year of Blogs
I have been bloging for almost a year now and it is fun to look back and see all the changes that have taken place. Looking back makes me realise how hard this process actually is, but also how rewarding too. I have learned so much because of it, and having the blog reminds me of those things.
Recently I have been thinking about the difficulties and I know that at the start of this process I didn't count the cost of what I would have to do to try and make my dreams come true. I was ignorant to a lot of things, but I have been blessed with a determination that has pushed me on, and the ability to adapt and turn negatives into positives has really helped.
I think about my dreams and aspirations, and how so many people have similar desires and have things they want to achieve, but often we don't count the cost of what it will take. I don't think people realise how much sacrifice is required (I know I didn't), and therefore when the difficult times come we struggle to keep going, and most seem to not start, or eventually give up.
Understanding the cost, having a willingness to pay it, and then adapting to either face the storm head on, or sit back and ride it, is the only beneficial way to achieve what we want. I'm glad I learned that on this process and even though at times I wanted to give up, I know one day it will all have been worth while.
I love this blog because it is fun and it allows me to write all the events surrounding my books. It also allows me to process and write about what I have learned on this journey and this is awesome because the blog is a story too. That's why I have copied and pasted it all into a word document and will convert it to a pdf, and put it on the website www.thechroniclesofelementary.com. This means if people want to have a record of all that has happened in the last year they can have it to browse at, without having to go through the archives on here.
Conclusion
I love this adventure!! and these two year of story writing have been amazing. I know it's only going to get better from here so I will keep updating and I'm so glad you are a part of this journey.
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
A Few Words About Marketing
I dislike marketing!!... and that is all.
But seriously I'm not a fan of marketing, and I will explain why.
I think the root of my dislike comes from the fact I have been raised to be very polite and considerate towards others. I have been raised not to be intrusive, or get in peoples faces. However a problem occurs when marketing, because in some form or another, this is what marketing requires you to do. You have to get what you are trying to sell in front of people, and I find this very difficult because it feels like I'm being intrusive.
So why do I market?
Well because I love my stories and books!! I believe a lot of people will enjoy them and love them the way I do so I try and tell people about them. This is easy to do with friends because they have been so supportive and know me and know my intentions are good. Sometimes I think I have bored them to death with all my talk of my stories, so if I have I apologise to them, but I am thankful to them for their patience and it will never be forgotten.
The difficult part is marketing to strangers. This is the main focus because, as I said, I have asked a lot of my friends. They have always helped me, but I know I need to back off from book stuff with them.
As for strangers, the goal thus: Get my website link, where the book is free, to as many people as I can, with out coming across as intrusive.
I really hope I am achieving this. As mentioned in a previous blog update I have been leafleting and I think putting them through doors is probably the best way of doing this. I kind of enjoy leafleting because I feel like the work and effort I have to put in makes it okay (having done it in freezing conditions and very very wet conditions I feel it has been character building if nothing else). There is also the fact that for some reason I get really nervous when doing it, and have nearly had a couple of panic attacks when doing it, I don't know why this sets them off, but it does. However once I'm finished a leafleting run I feel really happy because I feel like I've achieved something and pushed myself, and faced a fear almost.
Another aspect to my marketing has been using Facebook and putting links to the webpage on Facebook pages that are things that I 'like,' such as bands, films etc. This one has felt like I'm spamming, but has been pretty productive so about once a week I put a link upon various pages and whoever happens to be on that page at that time, somewhere in the world, get's to see it. Despite it feeling like I'm spamming I know it is effective, and not really that intrusive a way of pointing people to my book.
There are a few other marketing methods in the pipeline and these will reach a lot of people, and hopefully people will go see my website and read the free book. When these new methods happen I'm sure I will mention them in a following update.
Ultimately all I'm trying to do is share something I love with people in the politest way possible, and I hope I am achieving this. I guess only time will tell.
Oh and marketing requires creativity too, so I do like it for that reason.
But seriously I'm not a fan of marketing, and I will explain why.
I think the root of my dislike comes from the fact I have been raised to be very polite and considerate towards others. I have been raised not to be intrusive, or get in peoples faces. However a problem occurs when marketing, because in some form or another, this is what marketing requires you to do. You have to get what you are trying to sell in front of people, and I find this very difficult because it feels like I'm being intrusive.
So why do I market?
Well because I love my stories and books!! I believe a lot of people will enjoy them and love them the way I do so I try and tell people about them. This is easy to do with friends because they have been so supportive and know me and know my intentions are good. Sometimes I think I have bored them to death with all my talk of my stories, so if I have I apologise to them, but I am thankful to them for their patience and it will never be forgotten.
The difficult part is marketing to strangers. This is the main focus because, as I said, I have asked a lot of my friends. They have always helped me, but I know I need to back off from book stuff with them.
As for strangers, the goal thus: Get my website link, where the book is free, to as many people as I can, with out coming across as intrusive.
I really hope I am achieving this. As mentioned in a previous blog update I have been leafleting and I think putting them through doors is probably the best way of doing this. I kind of enjoy leafleting because I feel like the work and effort I have to put in makes it okay (having done it in freezing conditions and very very wet conditions I feel it has been character building if nothing else). There is also the fact that for some reason I get really nervous when doing it, and have nearly had a couple of panic attacks when doing it, I don't know why this sets them off, but it does. However once I'm finished a leafleting run I feel really happy because I feel like I've achieved something and pushed myself, and faced a fear almost.
Another aspect to my marketing has been using Facebook and putting links to the webpage on Facebook pages that are things that I 'like,' such as bands, films etc. This one has felt like I'm spamming, but has been pretty productive so about once a week I put a link upon various pages and whoever happens to be on that page at that time, somewhere in the world, get's to see it. Despite it feeling like I'm spamming I know it is effective, and not really that intrusive a way of pointing people to my book.
There are a few other marketing methods in the pipeline and these will reach a lot of people, and hopefully people will go see my website and read the free book. When these new methods happen I'm sure I will mention them in a following update.
Ultimately all I'm trying to do is share something I love with people in the politest way possible, and I hope I am achieving this. I guess only time will tell.
Oh and marketing requires creativity too, so I do like it for that reason.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Full Cirlce
Recently I turned twenty four and today I realised it has been a decade since my first job... yikes.
What made me realise this? Well today I felt like that young boy delivering newspapers. This was because I leafleted houses to try and introduce people to my book.
The adventure began with the idea of leafleting a month or two ago, and thanks to my parents buying me a printer I was able to make leaflets up to hopefully point people in the direction of my website.
The original plan for today was to hand out leaflets in Glasgow as I knew it would be busy, and it was. It was also raining a lot and once I started I realised this made it pointless to leaflet, as they got wet, and people were too busy getting to their next destination to get out the rain to take one.
I knew it was inefficient to stand there and decided to go home and leaflet houses. This I realised would be more productive for a few reasons.
I started leafleting houses and had the thought that this is exactly what I was doing ten years ago with my first job as a paper boy. I laughed to myself and find it strange how things often come full circle. Another reason I thought of this circular idea was because the place I leafleted turned out to be a big circle, with houses on both sides of the street. This made it easy to leaflet.
It was a difficult day though as the weather had me soaked through in about half an hour and after 3 or so hours I had lost feeling in most of my body, but I am glad I have done what I did for many reasons (One being the character building such work provides and another the gratitude you feel for warmth).
I really hope people who got the leaflet take a look at the link to my website, and I really hope they like the story.
I look forward to doing more leafleting in the future and let's hope the weathers a bit better next time. For now it's time to enjoy some food and to be extra grateful for the shelter and warmth I am lucky to have.
What made me realise this? Well today I felt like that young boy delivering newspapers. This was because I leafleted houses to try and introduce people to my book.
The adventure began with the idea of leafleting a month or two ago, and thanks to my parents buying me a printer I was able to make leaflets up to hopefully point people in the direction of my website.
The original plan for today was to hand out leaflets in Glasgow as I knew it would be busy, and it was. It was also raining a lot and once I started I realised this made it pointless to leaflet, as they got wet, and people were too busy getting to their next destination to get out the rain to take one.
I knew it was inefficient to stand there and decided to go home and leaflet houses. This I realised would be more productive for a few reasons.
I started leafleting houses and had the thought that this is exactly what I was doing ten years ago with my first job as a paper boy. I laughed to myself and find it strange how things often come full circle. Another reason I thought of this circular idea was because the place I leafleted turned out to be a big circle, with houses on both sides of the street. This made it easy to leaflet.
It was a difficult day though as the weather had me soaked through in about half an hour and after 3 or so hours I had lost feeling in most of my body, but I am glad I have done what I did for many reasons (One being the character building such work provides and another the gratitude you feel for warmth).
I really hope people who got the leaflet take a look at the link to my website, and I really hope they like the story.
I look forward to doing more leafleting in the future and let's hope the weathers a bit better next time. For now it's time to enjoy some food and to be extra grateful for the shelter and warmth I am lucky to have.
Monday, 19 December 2011
Website and Marketing
Website
So I have a website!!! :) It's simple but I'm so proud of it. It is www.thechroniclesofelementary.com and on there is the book in pdf and soon to be kindle file. It is a free download, but I have done this so there is no risk of having to pay money for something you may not enjoy. I have requested for people to be pay for it if they read the whole book and like it, this is a risk but it gives people choice, and I like that.
Marketing
So now I have to spread the word that this exists and have a few ways of doing this so will give an update if they go well or not.
Conclusion
I'm just so excited to start promoting again and seeing what happens.
So I have a website!!! :) It's simple but I'm so proud of it. It is www.thechroniclesofelementary.com and on there is the book in pdf and soon to be kindle file. It is a free download, but I have done this so there is no risk of having to pay money for something you may not enjoy. I have requested for people to be pay for it if they read the whole book and like it, this is a risk but it gives people choice, and I like that.
Marketing
So now I have to spread the word that this exists and have a few ways of doing this so will give an update if they go well or not.
Conclusion
I'm just so excited to start promoting again and seeing what happens.
Monday, 12 December 2011
Another Rejection
Another Rejection
In all honesty I'm tired, so tired and exhausted. I'm trying so hard to make this work, but I just can't get the break I need. Below is the rejection from the agent I was in touch with, and I am so thankful for her time. She has given some advice and I will take it on board and see what I can do to improve my work, again.
There are other plans in motion. Some which will be implemented in the new year and obviously the new book I have started writing will give me more opportunities to show my work. I love how a couple of blogs ago I said I would start this new story in the new year, and well... I'm 20,000 words in to it. The plot is not as simple as I thought it was going to be but it's going to be a great story so I'm excited for when that is constructed. Yet it will be put on hold for now.
Despite this I'm still pumped and excited for all I am doing and when the time comes this is all going to be worth it.
Email from agent.
Hi Steven,
I’m so sorry about the delay and especially given that this isn’t going to be one for me. You’ve a wonderful idea here but I wasn’t as gripped as I should be, which is an absolute must in this very difficult market. I think the book might benefit from a little more world-building and elements of curiosity to entice the reader in.
You’re a talented writer so I do hope another agent will want to take you on. I wish you every success and thank you again for giving me the chance to read your work, and for your patience.
With best wishes,
I replied and she sent the following back.
I’m sorry I can’t be of more use, or give more editorial feedback. It’s all very subjective and I think there’s every chance you’ll be snapped up. I do hope so.
With very best wishes,
I'm so grateful for her words but wish she could have helped move things forward for me. She has done what she felt was best so cannot fault her in anyway for that. As I have said before I am just so grateful to her for the chance.
Ultimately there is so much work for me to do and an infinite amount of opportunities to succeed so this is only more experience to help me on my adventure.
Monday, 5 December 2011
An Agent Update
An Agent Update
I emailed Susan Armstrong on December the 1st to see if she had a chance to read more of my work. She emailed the next day and said she should be able to give me a response by the 12th.
I'm really excited to hear her views, and thankful for the time she is giving my work. I will update when I get her email and hopefully she wants to read more.
I emailed Susan Armstrong on December the 1st to see if she had a chance to read more of my work. She emailed the next day and said she should be able to give me a response by the 12th.
I'm really excited to hear her views, and thankful for the time she is giving my work. I will update when I get her email and hopefully she wants to read more.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Exciting Time and Fresh Ideas
I made a statement in my last blog update that there was nothing 'I' could do to improve my story, I was wrong. I think the statement should have been more along the lines of, "please don't let me have to go through it again, let it be finished."
However I have been going through it again and have been able to make improvements.
Exciting Times
The reason I have been going through it again is because an agent read the first chapter and liked it so asked for the first five chapter. This all came about for the following reasons.
I originally emailed this agent to ask if I could email her my work instead of sending it by post. This was because on her webpage she asked for unique fantasy and I thought, why no just contact her directly.
She replied and was very nice and polite, but said to send it the traditional way. I thanked her and sent it off.
I got a rejection.
However I noticed it was from one of the general readers agencies have to help agents prioritise their clients, and the readers would hand high quality work to the agents.
I was disappointed as felt my work was what this agent wanted. I decided to email her again and say I felt a bit discouraged that it didn't make it to her. She was incredibly nice about this and could have easily said she only accepted it if it came through from one of the readers, but she didn't, and said she would read a chapter.
I sent it off and got an email at the beginning of this week asking to read the first five chapters.
This is very promising and I am excited to hear what she thinks of the story. When she asked to read the first chapter I quickly read through it and made improvements. Then when she asked for five chapters I could not stop smiling with excitement. I read through the chapters again, made improvements, and sent it to her.
She emailed today and thanked me for sending it through. Now I just sit back and pray she sees its potential and asks for the whole story. If she does I am going to have an interesting time trying to speed improve the other twenty chapters. I may just have to be honest and tell her I'm giving them a once over and will get them to her asap.
What an amazing feeling it is to be at this point. It's amazing to think that one persons choice effects your whole future, but even if she says it's not for her I still have so many options. I will obviously be disappointed but never discouraged.
Fresh Ideas
Why will I not be discouraged?
Well I have a number of ideas for books that I have put aside for when the time is right to write them. I am incredibly fortunate for the flow of ideas that seem to never stop, and recently an idea came in to my mind for a one book story that is very very exciting.
I have a 3,000 word outline of this story and because it is simpler, and only one book, I know an agent will be more likely to take it on as it will require less faith on their part.
It is such an exciting, simple and unique story and I cannot wait to write it and show it to people. However patience is the bane of my existence and I will sit on it for now and maybe start in January 2012 if this doesn't work out.
I will keep the blog updated when things happen and thanks so much for reading.
However I have been going through it again and have been able to make improvements.
Exciting Times
The reason I have been going through it again is because an agent read the first chapter and liked it so asked for the first five chapter. This all came about for the following reasons.
I originally emailed this agent to ask if I could email her my work instead of sending it by post. This was because on her webpage she asked for unique fantasy and I thought, why no just contact her directly.
She replied and was very nice and polite, but said to send it the traditional way. I thanked her and sent it off.
I got a rejection.
However I noticed it was from one of the general readers agencies have to help agents prioritise their clients, and the readers would hand high quality work to the agents.
I was disappointed as felt my work was what this agent wanted. I decided to email her again and say I felt a bit discouraged that it didn't make it to her. She was incredibly nice about this and could have easily said she only accepted it if it came through from one of the readers, but she didn't, and said she would read a chapter.
I sent it off and got an email at the beginning of this week asking to read the first five chapters.
This is very promising and I am excited to hear what she thinks of the story. When she asked to read the first chapter I quickly read through it and made improvements. Then when she asked for five chapters I could not stop smiling with excitement. I read through the chapters again, made improvements, and sent it to her.
She emailed today and thanked me for sending it through. Now I just sit back and pray she sees its potential and asks for the whole story. If she does I am going to have an interesting time trying to speed improve the other twenty chapters. I may just have to be honest and tell her I'm giving them a once over and will get them to her asap.
What an amazing feeling it is to be at this point. It's amazing to think that one persons choice effects your whole future, but even if she says it's not for her I still have so many options. I will obviously be disappointed but never discouraged.
Fresh Ideas
Why will I not be discouraged?
Well I have a number of ideas for books that I have put aside for when the time is right to write them. I am incredibly fortunate for the flow of ideas that seem to never stop, and recently an idea came in to my mind for a one book story that is very very exciting.
I have a 3,000 word outline of this story and because it is simpler, and only one book, I know an agent will be more likely to take it on as it will require less faith on their part.
It is such an exciting, simple and unique story and I cannot wait to write it and show it to people. However patience is the bane of my existence and I will sit on it for now and maybe start in January 2012 if this doesn't work out.
I will keep the blog updated when things happen and thanks so much for reading.
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