Fingers Crossed for June (#IWSG)

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group here.

May was the first time I missed a IWSG post in a year. I would love to say it was because I was busy celebrating my 36th birthday, but actually it was just a shitty week and I didn't feel like writing anything, not even bitching online.

On Monday I had some major computer glitches and lost 2 months worth of work on my current WIP.  Usually I'm pretty obsessive about backing up my work, but for whatever reason I hadn't made a copy (at least off the laptop) since I had started my final round of major edits and revisions. I guess we all need that reminder every now and then to back-up, back-up, back-up.

On Tuesday my wife got into a car accident with our one-year old in the vehicle. Fortunately they were both okay, but the car was messed up pretty badly. The other driver was charged with reckless driving and our insurance covered everything, but it was still a pretty scary couple of hours while I was stuck home with our other kid, unable to do anything while my wife was dealing with the police on the side of the road somewhere. Not to mention the weeks of dealing with the insurance company that has followed.

Oh and did I also mention an absolutely atrocious meeting I had with my boss in there, too? I won't go into the details on that one, but here's a visual copy of the minutes:

The good news is we've mostly recovered from all those hiccups. I've pretty much finished redoing all the work I lost on my WIP, and I think it's even better this time around. We just got the car back and insurance took care of everything. Except for the over $1000 that we're still waiting for them to pay us back for various things, but whatever, we will get it back eventually. And by then it will come as a pleasant surprise. And work has settled back into a reasonable routine without too much weirdness.

So yeah, May started pretty rough but we're past it now and we're looking forward to the summer (and to finally releasing my new book!) It's a new month, a new page and all that. Onwards and upwards! Huzzah!

Now please enjoy this hypnotic GIF for hours...

IWSG February: Almost there... Stay on Target!

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group here.

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Is it okay to be a little excited yet?

As you're reading this, my manuscript is on its way to my latest - and last - line of beta readers. Technically I guess they're gamma readers, but whatever. Since my last pass through readers it has undergone several more rounds of edits, revisions and tightening and I wanted to get feedback from a few more voices as I had to change a few things(most noticeably the ending). While I'm waiting for their feedback, I will get the finishing touches put on the cover and work on some other related elements.

If all goes according to plan, I might get this book out by the end of March, or sometime in April at the latest.

I started this book back in February of last year. I finished the first draft on July 17, and I've been editing and re-writing ever since. It's coming up on 12 months since I began, and it's been a busy year. I published my first book in May. In the Fall I launched a failed crowd-funding campaign to have my new book released through Inkshares.com. Not to mention I have a full-time job, and my wife and I had our second child.

I suppose as far book-writing goes, a year is really not that long, but for me the last 12 months have seemed like forever. Numerous deadlines and publication dates I've secretly set for myself have come and gone. It feels like I'm been talking about this for years so everyone must be tired of hearing about it. Part of me really wants to get this finished and out to celebrate a job well done.  Another part of me wants to get it off my plate because I have so many more projects lined up that I want to work on!

And though I should have learned my lesson, I'm considering entering another Nerdist/Inkshares contest...

With my first book, I took a manuscript I had written a few years before, gave it a real quick polish and then put it online. I actually did way more revising and editing after its original publication, which I admit is monumentally stupid. This time, I'm being far more cautious and putting much more effort into it before I hit the publish button. They say your second first impression is the important one, right?

Of course, the insecurity remains - will it all be worth it? Will this book be noticeably better? I hardly made a ton of sales with Ten Thousand Days - will the added effort at least help me match the numbers on the first book? Or will people who gave me a chance with Days and ended up burned not give it another go around?

I mean, people read Fifty Shades of Grey and came back for three sequels, so quality of an author's writing is by no means a measure to judge future sales success.

I'm kidding. I have no problem admitting I wish I had written this f*cking book.

I'm being harsh, Ten Thousand Days wasn't that bad. There are people who genuinely seem to like it, but there are definitely things about it I would like to change. That I may still go back and change. The new book though, in my opinion, is much, much better. It's funnier. It's darker. And I hope more people will get to read it. I hope that my added effort and the improvements that I've made will show a comparable increase in my readership.

So I'm optimistic, but also apprehensive. Excited but extremely cautious.

In short, I'm a bucket full of conflicting emotions. I think that was a Pixar movie.

Interview with C.D. Gallant-King

On Saturday I had a little interview with Justin Knight on Writers Talking - we spoke about Hell Comes to Hogtown and my first book Ten Thousand Days, as well as quite a bit about Inkshares, self-publishing and writing in general. We also went off on a tangent about the new "Lady Ghostbusters" movie for some reason. 

Anyway it was a whole lot of fun and so if you want to learn more about me and the horrific tales of murder and terror I wrote as a child, you can check out the stream here:

I had a ton of fun, I always enjoy this type of conversation about writing, how we write and why we write. I'd like to think it's useful and entertaining information for folks - like myself Justin and at least a few or my readers - who are just getting started in indy-/self-publishing, or for people who are just fascinated in the art of writing and storytelling and want to know more about the process.

It helps that Justin has a British accent and makes the whole thing sound a lot more important and fancy. He was super professional and even though I was this close to being late (ever since I've had kids I've been late for everything) he covered and we got rolling without a hiccup. 

And hey, for any other writers out there who would like to have a similar chat with Justin, he's a nice guy and would love to hear from you. You can reach out to him on Twitter @OptimusJut. 

As always, if you want to learn more about Inkshares (which is large part of the conversation) or my upcoming book Hell Comes to Hogtown, just click on the giant link below:

HELL COMES TO HOGTOWN 

on INKSHARES!

IWSG September: This Is Another Fine Mess You've Gotten Yourself Into

Last month I discussed the struggles I was having with my work in progress, trying to wrangle it into some semblance of a coherent novel. Progress has been slow but study, like hacking through a jungle with a dull machete. And the mosquitoes are the size of swallows. African swallows, not the European variety. I have received some good feedback from beta readers, but that only led to even more revisions and headaches.

So what's the next logical step to make when faced with such a task?

Why, submit the book to a crowdfunding competition, of course!

There are more details here, but here's the short version: I've signed up for Inkshares, a publishing crowdfunding site that takes "pre-orders" for book ideas. If you sell at least 1000 pre-orders, Inkshares will edit, design, print, market and distribute your book. It's like the most democratic publishing house ever, letting the readers (instead of an editor) decide what gets published. Of course, if you don't hit the threshold the backers don't get charged anything (though they will have to suffer with missing out on my fabulous book).

In theory, it's a great idea. In practice, there's no way I'm hitting 1000 friggin' pre-orders. That's way, way more copies than I sold of my first book (now available on Barnes & Noble). Running a program like this takes massive prep-work to build up the proper network of potential buyers. I'm a total idiot for rushing into it when I did. Why didn't I wait until I was better prepared?

I blame Chris Hardwick.

You know, this bastard. The guy who holds your hand when your favourite character dies on The Walking Dead.

Yeah, that Chris Hardwick, the CEO of the Nerdist and host of one of the best podcasts on the web. See, Nerdist is running a contest until September 30: the top five pre-ordered fantasy/sci-fi books on Inkshares by the end of the month will get published, regardless of whether or not they're going to reach their threshold. Nerdist will also pick their favourite book out of the batch to be the first official title under the Nerdist publishing banner - a huge break, by my estimation. Most importantly, I'm also working under the assumption that the winner may get a chance to be on a Nerdist podcast, which is honest to God one of my secret life's ambitions. I actually saw this as my shot.

Two weeks into the contest, the top ranking books have 300-400 orders already, and could easily hit full funding before September 30 with or without Nerdist help. I'm sitting at 32. I'm not at all surprised, but I will admit I'm still pretty discouraged. I know logically that I simply don't have the bandwith and readership to fund a project like this. Like I said at the top, under normal circumstances I never would have even considered trying at this point in my writing career. But because it filled a weird pocket fantasy, I kinda hoped it would work out, you know? That I could slip in through the back door.

One of my favourite parts of Inkshares is that it shows you exactly where your orders come from. The lonely guy over in Japan is of course Phil. And I may be one of the few authors with a reader north of the 63rd parallel.

Not that I haven't tried. I've bugged every friend and family member I could think of, contacted every group and forum I'm a member of online, touched base with other authors in the contest to exchange orders. I've been all over Twitter and Facebook, especially Twitter trying to get celebrities to post about the book (whether they knew what they were talking about or not, I can't say). Hell, I even got Chris Hardwick's mom to retweet me. And I will continue to do so, and to continue polishing the book and giving those who ordered whatever perks I can find, including preview chapters and sneak peak at artwork and maybe even a video of me reading the prologue while stark naked. That last one was my wife's idea by the way, it hasn't been made official yet. But I am fully cognizant that this probably won't work (honestly the naked read thing isn't much of a selling point).

Censored for your health and safety.

As of now, I'm accepting that I'm likely going to have to go about this the regular way: either submit my book to traditional publishers or publish it myself. I do think it has promise. I think it will very much appeal to a certain audience who like dark humour. It could very easily be the start to a series. I know this book will see the light of day some way or another. And there will be another book after that, and another book after that. Maybe some day I will get on the Nerdist podcast of my own accord (though probably only if one of my books is turned into a movie, I don't think he generally interviews lowly writers). I know this is not the end, not for me, not even for this book. I will take this whole situation as a learning experience and suck up my pride and keep going.

But, until September 30, I've gotta keep trying.

Which reminds me:

You wanna pre-order a copy of my book? I'll throw in a Smashwords download of Ten Thousand Days for free...

;-)

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group here.

Pre-Order My Book and Help Me Win a Publishing Contract

I just posted my latest work-in-progress on Inkshares, a crowd-funding site for publishing. Here's how it works: You pitch your book idea and post excerpts on the site, and try to convince readers to pre-order the book. If you hit a certain threshold of pre-orders, Inkshares will pay for the editing, design, printing and marketing for the book.

It's a fascinating model that seems like a win for all parties involved. The author (potentially) gets their book published without the personal cost of self-publishing or the humiliating obstacle course of finding a traditional publisher. The reader is only charged if the threshold is met and the book goes to print. And the publisher (Inkshares) has a guaranteed number of presales on the book before they even accept the manuscript so they know that they can cover their investment in the project.

Inkshares say they can get their books into many major book sellers, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple and numerous independent bookstores. They also claim their are options for publishing overseas in other languages and even selling movies rights, but those are pale in comparison to the true reason I'm signing up.

The biggest reason that I decided to so this right now is that they're currently running a contest in conjunction with pop culture powerhouse Nerdist.com: The 5 books with the most pre-orders by September 30th in the Fantasy & Science Fiction categories will automatically get published, even if they don't meet their thresholds. More importantly, the folks at the Nerdist will pick their favourite book out of the top five to be backed and endorsed by Nerdist.com, becoming the first book in The Nerdist publishing imprint with all the perks and glory it entails.

So now I implore you, all my faithful readers: Help me win this contest so I can get an interview with Chris Hardwick on The Nerdist Podcast. Sure, publishing my book is great, but my true life's ambition is eat a burrito with the son of Bowling Hall of Famer Billy Hardwick.

This man's son is the first face you see after your favourite character bites it on The Walking Dead.

My project, tentatively titled "Hell Comes to Hogtown" is now live at Inkshares. The entire first chapter is available as a free preview so you can determine if you like my style of writing. I would love it if you would pre-order it and tell all your friends, but if you just "Follow" the book to increase it's profile on the main page, that would be great. Even if you tell all your friends and spread the word, that would be great. Maybe one of them would like it?

Seriously, Click Here to Check It Out!

Anyway, here is the (very) short pitch of what the book's about:

A comic book nerd and a pro-wrestler try to clear their names in a kidnapping while evading a bloodthirsty demon hobo.

It's a comic horror/dark fantasy in the vein of Christopher Moore. If that sounds like something up your alley, please check out the page and show your support!

(Also, if you have any better ideas for names for the book, I am open to suggestion)

IWSG August: I Just Realized I Don't Know What I'm Doing

"So, how's that novel coming along?"

It's one of those things every writer hates to hear, and it's doubly worse when you ask it of yourself, which is something I've been doing every day for the past month.

See, when I put out Ten Thousand Days earlier this year, I had a big plan on exactly when and how I was going to release my next book. I took what I learned on that release and built a schedule on how the next one was going to work. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep to it.

I can make up excuses as to why it's not coming along, but the honest and biggest roadblock is simply me and my relationship with the book.

I've written 8 novels, of which Ten Thousand Days is the only one I've let out of The Closet. For all but one of the others, I simply wrote it for fun because I wanted to see if I could do it. I wrote only for myself and a handful of people who I knew might read it. I would finish the first draft, made a few edits here and there, but then it was done and I moved on. I didn't go back and go in depth into the mechanics of the book.

My current work-in-progress is the first time I've ever written something knowing that I would make it available for public consumption, and seriously considered that I have to make this something that people will enjoy reading.

I'm not thinking about catering to a particular market or preference, but I am suddenly acutely aware of all these things I've never paid much attention to: Are motivations consistent? Is dialogue believable? Does the progression of action make sense? When I wrote in the past, I just wrote what was fun and what I thought was enjoyable to read. I never considered how people were going to read this and judge me.

You know we all do it.

For instance, yesterday I had to cut out an awesome scene that I really loved. I thought it was hilarious and really fed well into the next chapter, but the truth of the matter was it made no sense. The characters shouldn't have been doing what they were doing in that moment. It was just unbelievable and nonsensical. Not to say the book is hyper-realistic - far, far, from it - but the logistics of the scene just didn't fit into the story. It survived the first two drafts but it kept eating away at me and I had to go back and remove it. It sucks, because now I have to replace it with a much less interesting exposition scene, but I really think it has to be done.

And that's been my feeling of the whole manuscript lately. Is any of this any good? Will anyone like this? I've spent months working on this, but am I wasting my time? I thought I knew the basics of what I'm doing, but I've been questioning it a lot lately...

Anyway, I'm just about to the point where I can send the manuscript out to my beta readers - that should happen this week. I'll find out then if this book is worth continuing or if I should just chuck the whole thing. I'll be sure to keep you posted...

So just we don't finish on a completely negative note, there were a couple of good things to report from last month.

• Ten Thousand Days is now officially available for purchase in paperback form, and amazingly a couple of people actually bought it. It's exactly the same as the eBook version, but I guess there are still a few holdouts who prefer to hold a dead tree in their hands. I also sold a few more eBooks on Amazon and Kobo during July as well, presumably thanks to the price drop and promotion.
• I received my first royalty payments from Amazon for my first month of book sales in May. It certainly won't buy me a new car, but it covered dinner for myself and my wife. So not only am I a published author, but I'm a paid one as well. 

Maybe with the next book I can cover drinks, too.


The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group here.

IWSG July: Plugging Away

Another month, another update. How are we doing?

I think I've returned to the "insecure" part of the group's title.

Sales of my first book Ten Thousand Days tanked after the first month. I ran out of friends, family members and acquaintances to convince to buy it, and after a half-dozen guest blogs and interviews, my marketing campaign kind of fizzled out as I didn't have the time to keep on the hustle every day. I would rather spend what available time I do have working on the next book.

I haven't completely given up on Days, though. I'm in the middle of a promotion right now for Canada Day (and the Fourth of July): To help stock up on your summer reading, Ten Thousand Days is on sale for just $0.99. It's actually less than 99 cents on Amazon.com - the Canadian prince is $0.99 so they adjusted it accordingly. I actually even put a few bucks in Facebook marketing to see if it helps get the word out there. So far the ad hasn't generated any sales, but it has reached thousands of new eyes that wouldn't have seen it previously. I will give a full breakdown and detail on how the promotion went after it's done, for those who are interested.

Here's the link to the ad, by the way. Like my Facebook page while you're over there. ;-)

The real insecurity (discouragement?) this month has been my new book, my WIP that I have been dutifully plugging away at these last few months. I've set certain targets and goals for myself of when I wanted to have each step of writing completed, but at the rate I'm going there's no way I'm going to hit any of my deadlines.

I mentioned before that I wrote the first draft entirely long hand whilst riding on the bus. Now I'm trying to type up and revise that draft, also on the bus, and it's not going well for a number of reasons:

1. I'm writing on a fucking bus.

2. For various perfectly reasonable reasons beyond my control, I haven't been taking the bus every day. Usually that's a good thing, but when my commute is my only writing time, not commuting = not writing.

3. It's a different kind of story that I'm not used to writing, so I'm having trouble keeping everything together. As I revise and change/add things, it's messing up other things and the whole manuscript just feels wonky and sloppy right now. When I do finish this draft it's going to take a major, major revision to put everything back in order, whereas I was hoping that this second draft was going to at least be at a point that I could hand it to a few people to get their feedback.

If I handed you a copy of my manuscript right now, it would basically read like this.

I had set myself a deadline of today to have finished this draft (or at least been within spitting distance) and I'm only about 2/3 of the way through (not including the inevitable 3rd draft to fix all the issues I created by revising the 2nd draft). Today is also the start of my vacation, so while I will enjoy my week off to spend with my family, I won't get any writing done.

So yeah, it's disappointing that I'm not where I wanted to be with my current manuscript, and that it's also not coming out quite the way I wanted it to. I'm not quite at the "am I wasting my time?" point yet, but I fear that day may be coming. I've never had this much trouble putting a book together before. I don't know if that means it will ultimately be a more satisfying experience, or I will eventually give up and just throw the whole thing in the trash. We'll see how it goes.

I'll let you know again how it's going in a month. Maybe I'll have a writing surge sometime in July and come back rejuvenated and excited.

I'm keeping my expectations low, though, just in case.

-CDGK