Writing And Publishing In 2013, How To Survive And Thrive: Part Two

This is the second part of a two parts series about how to survive and thrive as a writer in 2013. The first part is here: Writing And Publishing in 2013: How To Survive And Thrive.

4. What Should We Write About? 

What should we write in 2013? Non-fiction, mainstream fiction? Genre fiction? If so, which genre? Paranormal romance? Urban fantasy? And what's the difference between the two? (See: What's The Difference Between Paranormal Romance And Urban Fantasy?) Or perhaps something genre-bending like a romantic western comedy on Mars? (I jest)

These days we're spoiled for choice.

Write what you love

Kris Rusch had an excellent post on this topic last week, and I agree with her 100%: Write what you love.

[A writer] should write the best story she can possibly write. She should be stretching her wings, trying harder with this book than she tried with the last book. If she feels safe and comfortable in the knowledge that the book will make all of her readers happy, she’s probably not trying hard enough.

In her creative office, every writer should feel like she’s on a high wire twenty stories off the ground over a major highway with no net to catch her if she falls. She should worry that this book is beyond her skill level, that she might not know enough to write this one, that she might not be good enough to pull this off.

At the same time, she should be having fun—but an adrenalin-junkie kind of fun, an I-can’t-believe-I’m-up-here-trying-this kinda of fun. (The Business Rusch: Where Art Meets Commerce)

It used to be that writers would scramble over themselves to get on email lists editors frequented in the hope that mention would be made of what kinds of stories were being accepted.

No one can predict what will be 'hot' in the future

For instance, at a conference I attended three years ago I was told, confidently, by a senior editor at a large publishing house that angels were the new vampires. "Three years from now," she said, "we're not going to be reading about vampires". Riiiight.

People read what they love, so writers should write what they love.

5. Diversity Is Your Friend

Publish Your Stories In Different Formats: Electronic, Audio, Video, Print

Why? To maximize exposure. Some readers prefer print, so set your book up at CreateSpace or Lightning Source and provide a print on demand (POD) version. Head over to Audio Creation Exchange (ACX) and do up an audiobook (you can pay to have this done by professionals or do it yourself at home).

In an article talking about how her Kobo sales have taken off, Lindsay Buroker writes:

Canada-based Kobo wasn’t on my radar at all in 2011 (my earnings were fairly negligible there), and it wasn’t until Mark Lefebvre, Director of Self Publishing and Author Relations at Kobo, sent me a note in early 2012 (as a result of my woefully neglected self-publishing podcast) that I started following them more closely.

Nice! The point is, one can never tell which seed is going to germinate, sometimes it's the unlikely ones. I think the best approach is to try everything and see what works for you.

But don't stop at podcasting! Doing a video can be scary, but try reading a scene or two from one of your stories and then uploading the file to YouTube (or a similar service). Provide a link to your blog or wherever listeners can find out more about your work.

Lightning Source vs Createspace:
Jen Talty: Amazon's CreateSpace Vs LIghtning Source
Recording an audiobook:
How To Record Your Own Audiobook: Setting Up A Home Studio
Making a video:
7 Reasons Why Writers Need To Start Using Video For Book Promotion, Joanna Penn

Publish Yourself in Different Formats: Electronic, Audio, Video, Print

You want to help readers find you as well as your work. Last week I wrote about blogging and I feel that blogging is a great way to connect with folks, but don't leave it there. (And, yes, this is a 'do as I say not as I do' moment!)

What is the advice we're given about writing? Engage as many senses as possible! But this doesn't just apply to writing. It applies to everything, including self-promotion.

What is your goal when you sit down to write? What are you trying to do with your story? You're attempting to reach out to whoever is reading it and engage them, make them care. How do we do that? Through the senses: sight and hearing among them.

Videos and podcasts, as well as blogging, help make a connection with others. And it's free.

Joanna Penn was one of the first writers to take advantage of the possibilities YouTube afforded writers. In fact, that's how I first heard about her, because of one of her video interviews. And, as I mentioned above, Lindsay Buroker has had folks discover her through her podcasts. Those are just two examples, I know, but I do believe that video and podcasting are two ways of reaching out to an audience that are worth exploring.

6. How Much Time Should I Spend On Social Media?

I've heard folks say that for every hour of social media time one should spend 3 hours writing, and that's not a bad idea, but I think it misses something obvious: Every writer is different. It depends on what your goals are.

Let's talk about goals. Everyone's different, but it takes me at least four hours of editing for every hour of writing.  Since I write about 1,500 to 2,000 words an hour that means every 2,000 words of finished manuscript represents five hours of work.

2,000 finished, publishable, words a day would get me 730,000 words a year or a little over nine 80,000 word novels.

Not bad!

That was all calculated on one hour of writing and four hours of editing.

By the way, I'm not talking about editing the writing done that day. If you're anything like I am, that would be inviting disaster--I'd never get through the first draft!

Also, I'm not suggesting you spend one hour writing per day and spend the rest editing--though that wouldn't be a bad idea.

Every writer is different and many--myself included--like to write a fast first draft which means writing for two or three weeks straight and then editing. Do what works for you. If you're not sure what that is yet, experiment.

So where does this leave us with social media? If you're writing full-time (say 10 hours a day) you still have five hours left in your work day. (I know I haven't accounted for breaks or days off. These figures are approximate.)

Let's say you spend an hour and a half of those five hours doing administrative tasks like sending your previous work out to new markets or publishing your work yourself, answering writing related email (invitations to do interviews, guest posts, asking other writers to do the same for you), and so on.

Another hour and a half could be spent on stretching your wings into new markets. Try out podcasting, video blogging, whatever. Try something new. If it doesn't work, fine! But something will. Eventually.

Sooner or later something will catch and chances are it'll be the least likely thing you did. Hugh Howey is a great example of this.

That leaves two hours for social media. I use Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and a little bit of Facebook, but whatever social media appeals to you, use it to your hearts content for two hours.

This is what a 10 hour day would look like:

Writing: 1 hour
Editing: 4 hours
Administrative tasks: 1.5 hours
Stretching yourself: 1.5 hours
Social media: 2 hours

That's approximate. I'd probably spend more time writing and editing--or at least I'd like to. Administrative tasks seem to eat up most of my time.

What you can accomplish writing 1 hour a week

I think the overwhelming majority of new writers don't write full time. So lets look at a schedule for someone who can only write two hours a day, five days a week.

Monday
1 hour writing
40 minutes administrative
20 minutes social media

Tuesday
1 hour editing
40 minutes administrative
20 minutes social media

Wednesday
1 hour editing
40 minutes administrative
20 minutes social media

Thursday
1 hour editing
40 minutes stretching your wings
20 minutes social media

Friday
1 hour editing
40 minutes stretching your wings
20 minutes social media

This is a rough approximation. The schedule will look vastly different depending on the writer. Also, in the beginning you likely won't have to spend as much time on administrative duties since you won't have as much work to send out, as much email, and so on. Also, if you can fit your social media tasks into odd moments of the day (waiting in line at the bank, buying lunch, riding the bus, etc.) you'll have more time to write.

How much work could a person using this schedule produce in a year? Let's take a look:

2,000 words per week times 52 weeks is 104,000 words per year! That's one 80,000 word book and a novella. Or it could be two 40,000 word novellas.

Not bad for one hour of writing a week!

My point: how much time you should spend on anything depends on your goals. When do you want to accomplish your goals by? What do you need to do to accomplish those goals? That's going to tell you how much time you should spend where.

You are the expert on you.

What are your goals for the new year? How are you planning on stretching yourself as a writer?

Other articles you might like:

- How Many Drafts Does It Take To Write A Novel?
- Writing Goals Versus Writing Dreams: How To Get From One To The Other
- The Structure Of Short Stories: The Elevator Pitch Version

Photo credit: "Grandpa" by conorwithonen under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Getting Ready for 2013: A Writer's Guide

It's much easier to make our dreams come true if we craft goals that can get us there.

Jan O'Hara, in her article Tormented by Toothless Writing Goals? Try These Tools, tells us how to create goals that can make our dreams a reality. (For more on this see: Writing Goals Versus Writing Dreams: How To Get From One To The Other.)

What's the secret to making one's dreams come true? Making SMART goals:

Specific: Goals not Dreams

As I wrote yesterday, we don't have direct control over our dreams (Earning a living from your craft) but we do over our goals (Write 1,000 words a day, Publish 4 books next year).

Let's use a concrete example:
Goal: Write, and complete, 2 books next year.

That's a good goal. It's specific. We'll make it even more specific and say that each book will be around 80,000 words.

Measurable

A good goal is one we can use to check our progress and see how we're doing. For instance, if we're going to complete 2 books next year we'll be writing (2 * 80,000) 160,000 words.

But we won't write the entire time--we need to edit the book, go through re-writes, and so on. Let's give ourselves 3 months to write a book and 3 months to edit it.

To write 80,000 words in 3 months we will need to write 80,000/(30 * 3) = (about) 889 words per day. If you do more, great! You'll get done quicker and have more time to edit.

Measuring your progress

We could put a calendar on the wall and use Jerry Seinfeld's chain method to keep us on track by putting an "X" through each day we complete our 889 words.

Actionable

Decide WHEN you are going to write as well as WHERE. Many writers find that when they have a set schedule--always writing in the morning, or always in the evening--it helps get their muse accustomed to waking up and being active during that time. (See: Vanquishing Writer's Block)

It doesn't matter what time you choose (Amanda Hocking is nocturnal!) just so long as you're consistent. (That said, flexibility is important as well. It's better that you write, even during an 'off-time' than that you don't write at all.)

Also, you know there will be times when you'd rather walk over hot coals than write. Decide now how you're going to handle that. Could you bribe yourself with a treat? Write for, say, 10 minutes then take a break?

Realistic

In my example we're writing 2 books a year. That might not be realistic for you. Although there is something to be said for trying to stretch yourself it's important that these goals are realistic. If you know you'd never be able to write two books than try for one. Or perhaps two novellas, or even a few short stories.

Time-bound

Goals need deadlines.

For my examples I've chosen the time frame of a year but perhaps weekly or monthly goals would work better for you. For instance, perhaps you'd like to try writing one short story a month--or one a week.

Choose deadlines that work for you and then find some way to make yourself accountable.

Accountability is something I'm still working on. I check in with my local writing circle every week and we share our goals but there is no consequence if we miss them. We're all very sympathetic and understanding--which is great! But it's easy for a deadline to slide by, unnoticed. (If you have a suggestion to make, something that works for you, please do!)

Jan O'Hara mentions a couple of motivational options: habitforge.com and stickk.com. You can read about them here, at the end of her article.

That's it! If you'd like to share your writing goals for 2013, please do. :-)

Other articles you might like:

- Writing Goals Versus Writing Dreams: How To Get From One To The Other
- The Structure Of Short Stories: The Elevator Pitch Version
- Where Ideas Come From And The Conspiracy Against Nothingness

Photo credit: "Zsa Zsa gets to work" by mpclemens under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Dean Wesley Smith's Advice To Indie Authors For 2013: How To Sell Fiction

Dean Wesley Smith and Joe Konrath were the two writers who, more than anyone else, convinced me that independent publishing offered opportunities traditional publishing couldn't. And, yes, it works the other way too.

Today Dean published a post that will help a lot of folks understand what indie publishing can and can't do. I've already bookmarked the URL in Evernote. This is a post I'm going to re-read often in the months to come: The New World of Publishing: How To Get Started Selling Fiction in 2013.

Dean's Advice To New Writers For 2013

Dean writes:

1) Spend 80% of your focus and time on producing new fiction. Not rewriting, not researching, but producing new words on the page. Period. (Follow Heinlein’s Rules to the letter.)

2) Spend 15% of your time on learning craft and business. Both a little at a time. In any way you can.

3) Spend the remaining 5% of your time mailing finished work to editors or getting your work up indie published or both. (The #5 path above I believe in 2013 is the best if you have the courage.)

4) Think five and ten years out and set production goals. (Not selling goals, you are not in charge of those, but you are in charge of your own production and how much you learn.)

That’s it.

Simple.

Dean mentions Heinlein's Rules in (1), above. If you're a bit fuzzy on what those are, here's a post you might like: Heinlein's Rules, by Robert Sawyer.

Dean's Six Major Paths Writers Can Take

You'll notice that, in point three, above, Dean talks about "path #5". Although Dean gives his recommendations, he also details "the six major paths that a fiction writer can take in 2013 when starting out". Here they are:

1. Follow the myths

"[W]rite one novel, rewrite it to death, then spend all your time tracking down an agent."

Pro: None.
Con: "This path seldom leads to a decent sale or decent writing, but most beginning writers still follow this path ...."

2. Follow tradition

"Write a novel and mail a submission package for your book directly to editors. Then while that book is in the mail, write more novels and mail them as well while working on becoming a better storyteller."

Pro: "This is the way it’s been done forever in publishing and is still valid."
Con: "Contracts are much more difficult these days."
Note: "Only difference now from ten years ago is that now you need an IP attorney to work on your contract instead of an agent."

3. Pay to follow the myths

"Write a novel, rewrite it to death, pay a gad-zillion bucks to have someone put it up electronically for you and then take a percentage of your work, then you promote it to your 200 friends on Facebook until they start fleeing ...."

Pro: None
Con: "This path seldom works ...."

4. Go indie: write and publish novels 

"Write a novel, learn how to do your own covers and formatting, put the novel up yourself electronically and in POD and then write the next novel and work on learning and becoming a better storyteller. Repeat. Do not promote other than telling your friends once each book is out."

Pro: "This is more of a standard, traditional path that will work, but takes time as you learn how to tell better stories that people want to read."
Con: None

5. Go indie & follow tradition 

"Follow #4 and #2 at the same exact time, telling the editors in the submission package that the book is self-published electronically and sending them a cover in the package."

Pro: See Dean's comments on #2 and #4.
Con: None.
Note: "Very few beginning writers are trying this method yet because they are afraid traditional editors will come to their houses and break their fingers ...."

6. Short stories

"Forget novels completely and only write short stories, selling to traditional magazines as well as publishing indie."

Pro: "This method has a lot quicker feedback loops and is a good way to learn how to tell great stories ..."
Con: "... it takes a mind set most beginning writers do not have. And you must learn how to do all the indie publishing work yourself."
Note: "This method was never a path to making a living writing fiction, but now it is possible if you really, really, really love short fiction. Otherwise, just write a few stories here and there to help your novels."

You'll notice that I re-formatted some of Dean's points, above. (You should have seen my notebooks in school!) I did it so that I could take in more information at a glance. Oh, and all quotations are from Dean's article, "The New World of Publishing: How To Get Started Selling Fiction in 2013".

Dean's Advice For The New Year

Dean writes:

In my opinion, all writers these days should be writing, selling, and publishing some short fiction along with writing novels. The short fiction market is booming and short fiction should just be a part of any business plan for a fiction writer.

In other words, try a combination of paths 5 and 6, above.

Dean also holds that:

[T]he best way to sell books is write a lot, work on learning how to be a better storyteller constantly, get your work in front of editors or readers or both, and plan for the long haul. 

How To Defeat The Siren Call Of Social Media

I think this is brilliant! Dean writes:

[S]et up a writing computer that is only for creation of new words. Have no games, no email, no internet connection on that computer. Make it only a writing computer. That way the creative side of things has a line between it and the information overload and opinions flooding at you from everywhere. It honestly will help and be worth the few hundred bucks for a new computer.

Thanks to cloud storage you can save your work using utilities like Dropbox or Google Drive and then access your work on your main computer when you need to edit and format it.

Beware of Over-Marketing

I think this might be one of Dean's most controversial pieces of advice. As far as I can tell, Dean isn't against all marketing--after all, he recommends telling your online community about your book or short story when it's first published--but he is against over-marketing. Dean writes:

I watch new writers, who have managed to complete their first novel, promoting the life out of their “book” because they believe they should, and then complaining when there are very few sales.

From a place of perspective, this is like watching a brand new violin player stride onto the stage at Carnage Hall with their very first recital piece and wondering why no one showed up to listen even though they advertised their concert to everyone they knew. 

Point well taken.

The Importance Of Practicing Your Craft

Dean writes:

All fiction writers, at some point, given enough time, start to understand that to become a good storyteller it takes time. John D. McDonald said every fiction writer has a million words of crap in them before they reach their first published word. I agree and could go on about why this is so, but don’t have the time in this article.

I hope Dean writes that article soon! A million words is about 10 books at 100,000 words a book. Even if the finished word count isn't 100,000 chances are you'll have written at least that number when you count up all the drafts.

Those novels that you've stuffed under your bed--we all have them!--did you a favor. They helped you work through your 1,000,000 practice words.

The Writings and Opinions of Dean Wesley Smith

If you haven't subscribed to Dean's blog and you're interested in indie publishing, I highly recommend it. You don't have to agree with everything he says, but his advice is worth thinking about even if you don't take it.

Thanks to Andy Goldman for bringing Dean's latest post to my attention. :-)

Other articles you might like:
- Robert Sawyer Says: Don't Worry About What's Popular, Write What You Love
- Writing A Story? Make Sure You Have A Concept Not Just An Idea
- Amazon's KDP Select Program Has A Lot To Offer New Writers, But What About Established Ones?

Photo credit: "Late for Work / Tarde pa'l trabajo" by Eneas under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.