This is my 96th -- and last -- blog entry of 2008. Not a bad output but less than I should have done. Overall, however, it has been a good year for my fiction writing. I still don't have an agent but finding an agent was only one objective this year.
The first and foremost objective was to become a better writer. And I think I aced that. As I look back at my fiction before this year and compare it to what I have done this year, there is little comparison. I like "Fighting Chaos" and it will always be special to me but this year's writing is much better.
In my first blog entry in 2008, which was on Wednesday, Jan. 2, a was still planning a murder mystery novel. I said I probably wouldn't start for several weeks and had not yet decided on how the victim would killed. I was thinking it would be poison. (Most of the blog, however, dealt finding names for characters, which is a problem I still wrestle with.)
Well, I started the novel about a week later, finished the first draft in May and the victim, George Wilson, is hit in the head and killed. (I thank Mariska Bogle for that idea. She suggested both the victim and the method.) And while I thought I had finished the final and seventh draft more than a month ago, I am pouring through it once more, preparing it for a writing competition at the beginning of February.
But that's not all.
I joined the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime and joined a critique group. Along with study and practice, the critique group is one of the reasons I have improved so much this year.
In addition to the finishing the novel (which is currently named "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal"), I wrote a 7,000 word short story for the racing anthology our chapter is putting together. I am also writing some of the factoids that will go between stories.
And I went to Philadelphia to begin research for my next novel, which is called, "The Death of Art," and have written two chapters. And while constantly re-writing Jungle-bunny has kept me from having completed more of DOA, I still plan on completing it over the winter.
And then the search for an agent will be renewed.
In 2009, I plan to increase my blog output, attend at least two writers conferences other than NABJ, find an agent, finish DOA, and plan and start whatever I will write after DOA.
So, it will be a busy year. I look forward to it.
Thanks again for reading, have a happy New Year and keep writing.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Gobbledy-gook
Long ago, I can't remember exactly when, my editor at United Press International, upon reading one of my news stories, pronounced it as being gobbledly-gook. At the time, I had been at UPI for a couple of years and had written numerous stories but none had gotten such a harsh response from my editor. For years after that, my fellow UNIPressers in the Philadelphia office ribbed me, in a good naturally way, about writing gobbledly-gook.
I left UPI 15 years ago and while I am occasionally in contact with one or two of my former colleagues, I doubt that any remember the comment. And I doubt that former editor does.
The editor, whose name is Bob, just published a book. I haven't spoken to him, I'm sure, in probably 15 years. But when I learned -- from a former UNIPresser, no less -- that Bob had written and published a book, I immediately e-mailed him a congrats and got back a nice reply.
The non-fiction book, which was regionally published in the Philadelphia area by a small press, is about two legal cases. The former colleague who informed me of Bob's book said it wasn't very good. In other words, gobbledly-gook. And I could understand that. I always thought Bob was a much better editor than writer.
But I looked up the book and was able to read the first two chapters online and they really were quite good. The writing was clear and compelling, and drew the reader further into the book, which is as it should be. I plan to order the book through Amazon and have Bob autograph it the next time I am in Philly.
And as I said to the UNIPresser who told me about book, Bob is to be congratulated. Writing a book is very difficult; getting published is even more so. That is something to be celebrated.
Hopefully, Bob one day will get to read one of my published books. I have confidence in my writing, just as I did back then. And I'm sure he won't call it gobbledly-gook.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
I left UPI 15 years ago and while I am occasionally in contact with one or two of my former colleagues, I doubt that any remember the comment. And I doubt that former editor does.
The editor, whose name is Bob, just published a book. I haven't spoken to him, I'm sure, in probably 15 years. But when I learned -- from a former UNIPresser, no less -- that Bob had written and published a book, I immediately e-mailed him a congrats and got back a nice reply.
The non-fiction book, which was regionally published in the Philadelphia area by a small press, is about two legal cases. The former colleague who informed me of Bob's book said it wasn't very good. In other words, gobbledly-gook. And I could understand that. I always thought Bob was a much better editor than writer.
But I looked up the book and was able to read the first two chapters online and they really were quite good. The writing was clear and compelling, and drew the reader further into the book, which is as it should be. I plan to order the book through Amazon and have Bob autograph it the next time I am in Philly.
And as I said to the UNIPresser who told me about book, Bob is to be congratulated. Writing a book is very difficult; getting published is even more so. That is something to be celebrated.
Hopefully, Bob one day will get to read one of my published books. I have confidence in my writing, just as I did back then. And I'm sure he won't call it gobbledly-gook.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Marketing II
I was working today on a freelance article I do regularly for a client and was speaking a marketing expert who focuses on law firm marketing. And she said something that I think applies to marketing in general and can certainly be applied to marketing and promotions for a book.
She said you must 'analyze, plan, execute, measure results, modify (actions, if necessary) and repeat -- on a never-ending basis.'
I am writing this down because I don't want to forget it. (Well, I am going to use it in the article but I wanted to have it here first.) It will come in handy for marketing the racing anthology and when i sign with a publisher.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
She said you must 'analyze, plan, execute, measure results, modify (actions, if necessary) and repeat -- on a never-ending basis.'
I am writing this down because I don't want to forget it. (Well, I am going to use it in the article but I wanted to have it here first.) It will come in handy for marketing the racing anthology and when i sign with a publisher.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Marketing
I have been thinking about marketing for the last couple of days. Not just for my novel but also for the mystery anthology the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime is working on.
The chapter published a book of short stories themed around the Indianapolis 500 back in the fall of 2007. The next anthology, which is scheduled to be published in the spring of 2010, will be themed around the Brickyard 400. The first book has done reasonably well for our chapter but sales could have been better.
And that's where better marketing comes in.
The chapter must be more aggressive this time, targeting all the major NASCAR markets for both print, broadcast and online possibilities, national outlets (both in publishing and in motorsports), and really do more online marketing. That includes using the chapter's website for text and online interviews and excrepts, protrays of the authors and links to the chapter's Facebook page.
Since we are already online, there is a lot we can do to market and promote ourselves inexpensively using the media we already have. We don't have to generate a slew of press releases on paper but once, if then. Once we have all the e-mail addresses of the contacts we want, we can send them updates through cyberspace.
I think this marketing effort needs to be in full swing by the summer, with some aspects operational in time for the Indy 500 in May. In that way, we can stir up some advance interest in 2009 and and build on it leading up to the publication in 2010.
I have already sent my story, although I will send a more updated version by the end of the year. I read it from time to time -- I read it just today -- and there isn't much more for me to do except wait for any recommendations from the editor, which I don't expect until some time in the spring.
That's all for now.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
The chapter published a book of short stories themed around the Indianapolis 500 back in the fall of 2007. The next anthology, which is scheduled to be published in the spring of 2010, will be themed around the Brickyard 400. The first book has done reasonably well for our chapter but sales could have been better.
And that's where better marketing comes in.
The chapter must be more aggressive this time, targeting all the major NASCAR markets for both print, broadcast and online possibilities, national outlets (both in publishing and in motorsports), and really do more online marketing. That includes using the chapter's website for text and online interviews and excrepts, protrays of the authors and links to the chapter's Facebook page.
Since we are already online, there is a lot we can do to market and promote ourselves inexpensively using the media we already have. We don't have to generate a slew of press releases on paper but once, if then. Once we have all the e-mail addresses of the contacts we want, we can send them updates through cyberspace.
I think this marketing effort needs to be in full swing by the summer, with some aspects operational in time for the Indy 500 in May. In that way, we can stir up some advance interest in 2009 and and build on it leading up to the publication in 2010.
I have already sent my story, although I will send a more updated version by the end of the year. I read it from time to time -- I read it just today -- and there isn't much more for me to do except wait for any recommendations from the editor, which I don't expect until some time in the spring.
That's all for now.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Skipping Christmas
As I have said before, reading is essential for good writing. Reading helps a writer develop their skills and helps in developing an individual style. Other writers can also inspire new ideas or approaches to old ideas.
It's a win-win situation. Plus, even if you are not a writer, reading is just fun and enjoyable.
There are a number of writers I particularly like. One I discovered just this year is Janet Evanovich. My daughters have been reading her Stephanie Plum series for years but I only discovered them this past spring when we listened to one of the audio tapes while in the car driving to Pennsylvania. Since then, I have read or listened to five or six of Evanovich's novels and also read a non-fiction book she wrote on writing.
But probably my favorite author is John Grisham. I generally listen to a book on tape and it I like it, I buy the hardback and read it. Two I really like -- and read often -- are "The Testament" and "The Broker." Both have good stories and are told well.
Yet there is another one I read once a year. It is "Skipping Christmas." The book is not a crime or legal thriller. It's about a man who plans to completely skip celebrating Christmas one year and take a cruise. Given how chaotic the season often is, who wouldn't want to do that.
Well, the book is delightful. I love reading it at Christmastime each year, not the least because I also remember the friend who gave me the book. But it is such a wonderful book to read, fun and easy. The descriptions are perfect. The setting and characters are perfect. The dialogue is perfect. Just about everything about the book is perfect.
I just read it this week and enjoyed it as much today as when I read it for the first time in 2001. And I suggest it to you at Christmastime.
Thanks for reading. Don't forget to keep reading and don't give up on writing.
It's a win-win situation. Plus, even if you are not a writer, reading is just fun and enjoyable.
There are a number of writers I particularly like. One I discovered just this year is Janet Evanovich. My daughters have been reading her Stephanie Plum series for years but I only discovered them this past spring when we listened to one of the audio tapes while in the car driving to Pennsylvania. Since then, I have read or listened to five or six of Evanovich's novels and also read a non-fiction book she wrote on writing.
But probably my favorite author is John Grisham. I generally listen to a book on tape and it I like it, I buy the hardback and read it. Two I really like -- and read often -- are "The Testament" and "The Broker." Both have good stories and are told well.
Yet there is another one I read once a year. It is "Skipping Christmas." The book is not a crime or legal thriller. It's about a man who plans to completely skip celebrating Christmas one year and take a cruise. Given how chaotic the season often is, who wouldn't want to do that.
Well, the book is delightful. I love reading it at Christmastime each year, not the least because I also remember the friend who gave me the book. But it is such a wonderful book to read, fun and easy. The descriptions are perfect. The setting and characters are perfect. The dialogue is perfect. Just about everything about the book is perfect.
I just read it this week and enjoyed it as much today as when I read it for the first time in 2001. And I suggest it to you at Christmastime.
Thanks for reading. Don't forget to keep reading and don't give up on writing.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Something bold
I started something bold yesterday. The decision to do it wasn't easy months ago but when it re-surfaced two days ago, it was easy because it seemed so right.
I am rewriting "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal" in first-person.
I resisted this idea for months because, as a journalist, I'm far more comfortable writing in third-person. In fact, other than writing editorials for the Philadelphia Tribune, which were first-person plural, I have only written a handful of articles in first-person throughout my entire professional career. To tell the truth, I can only remember four instances.
But this venture, for me, is bold, radical, revolutionary. I was struggling with how to improve the novel and this came to mind.
I started yesterday, eliminating any and all chapters in which Jason Crown does not appear. That means I cut the novel down from 78,000 words to about 45,000, 5,000 short of what I need for the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest in two months. But some of the information in the eliminated chapters will still be needed. I will just have to include it in another way.
I lost a lot of writing that I loved, particularly a scene between two teens in which the girl tells the boy she is pregnant. That was a particularly well-written chapter but it is no more.
After I go through everything I currently have, I will have to consider what is missing and how I need to add it. There will be a number of scenes I will have to add. In the end, I imagine the novel will top out at about 70,000 words.
So, that's it. A lot of hard work ahead but it is new and exciting. And I'm just waiting to see where it goes. If nothing else, I still have numerous earlier versions in third-person.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
I am rewriting "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal" in first-person.
I resisted this idea for months because, as a journalist, I'm far more comfortable writing in third-person. In fact, other than writing editorials for the Philadelphia Tribune, which were first-person plural, I have only written a handful of articles in first-person throughout my entire professional career. To tell the truth, I can only remember four instances.
But this venture, for me, is bold, radical, revolutionary. I was struggling with how to improve the novel and this came to mind.
I started yesterday, eliminating any and all chapters in which Jason Crown does not appear. That means I cut the novel down from 78,000 words to about 45,000, 5,000 short of what I need for the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest in two months. But some of the information in the eliminated chapters will still be needed. I will just have to include it in another way.
I lost a lot of writing that I loved, particularly a scene between two teens in which the girl tells the boy she is pregnant. That was a particularly well-written chapter but it is no more.
After I go through everything I currently have, I will have to consider what is missing and how I need to add it. There will be a number of scenes I will have to add. In the end, I imagine the novel will top out at about 70,000 words.
So, that's it. A lot of hard work ahead but it is new and exciting. And I'm just waiting to see where it goes. If nothing else, I still have numerous earlier versions in third-person.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Confidence
This is a balance between having confidence in your idea and your work and in being open suggestions and to criticism. But finding that balance can be a challenge.
I like "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal." I think it is funny and compelling and an interesting read. But is that enough to get an agent? A publisher? Is it good enough to withstand the rigors of a writing competition?
I'm not sure. And so I am pouring over Jungle-bunny, chapter by chapter, looking for those elements that can make it unsaleable. But I find myself greatly second-guessing myself. I spend several hours yesterday rewriting the opening of the novel only to find it uninteresting and unfocused. So, I am throwing all that work out.
As I learn more and read more closely, I find my final draft is generally good but could use some tighter editing. That is my goal. But in the end I second-guess myself. Am I doing the best thing? The correct thing? I don't know.
I feel lost again. I need it to be the best it can be before Feb. 2, the opening day for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest, but time is short and I'm uncertain as to what to do. Advice is often conflicting and can undermine confidence. But without it, you are shooting in the dark.
Once again I don't know what to do. Only that something needs to be done. I just can't find the balance between confidence and openness.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
I like "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal." I think it is funny and compelling and an interesting read. But is that enough to get an agent? A publisher? Is it good enough to withstand the rigors of a writing competition?
I'm not sure. And so I am pouring over Jungle-bunny, chapter by chapter, looking for those elements that can make it unsaleable. But I find myself greatly second-guessing myself. I spend several hours yesterday rewriting the opening of the novel only to find it uninteresting and unfocused. So, I am throwing all that work out.
As I learn more and read more closely, I find my final draft is generally good but could use some tighter editing. That is my goal. But in the end I second-guess myself. Am I doing the best thing? The correct thing? I don't know.
I feel lost again. I need it to be the best it can be before Feb. 2, the opening day for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest, but time is short and I'm uncertain as to what to do. Advice is often conflicting and can undermine confidence. But without it, you are shooting in the dark.
Once again I don't know what to do. Only that something needs to be done. I just can't find the balance between confidence and openness.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Contests
I have decided to enter a contest with "Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal" early in the new year. And I may change the title.
This is a big decision for me and, while I will continue looking for an agent, it could complicate things in that area. The contest is called the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.
The last contest I entered was last year. It was the Writer's Digest annual contest and I entered my screenplay, "Loss of Consortium." And while I didn't win, I got an honorable mention in the screenplay category, which was quite something since it was my first screenplay. But at the time I was concentrating on finishing my first novel, "Fighting Chaos," and decided against pursuing anything with screenplays.
I didn't enter the Amazon contest last year with Chaos and I'm glad I didn't. It really wasn't good enough and still isn't. The story will need to be overhauled and I'm not willing to do that at the moment.
But I have grown since writing Chaos and Jungle-bunny is in much better shape to begin with. So I am going with it.
I will write more about the contest later but it runs for one week, Feb. 2-9. The entry form and related materials can only be submitted then. It must be fiction, 50,000 to 100,000 words in length, in English, by an individual author, unpublished. While free, the contest requires a 'pitch' letter (the requirements of which I am still trying to determine), biographical information and a 3,000 to 5,000 word exempt of the first part of the novel.
The grand prize, which will be announced by late may or early June, is a $25,000 contract with Penguin books for the publication of the novel, plus marketing of the work. Last year, a number of the 10 finalists who didn't win the overall prize got noticed in the industry and ultimately got publishing contracts.
I am not putting all my eggs into a single basket but this is a basket I can not ignore. the organizers -- Penguin and Amazon -- expect as many as 10,000 entries and the contest is judged in stages, starting with the pitch letter. But If I could make it to the quarter- or semi-finals I will have gone a long way.
This is going to require a lot of preparation and hard work pouring over the novel again and again and writing it yet one more time. Plus there is the pitch letter. I'm not sure what to expect with that. But I am going to get it done in time to submit all my material early in the morning on Feb. 2. I'm not going to wait.
This means, of course, that additional work on "The Death of Art" will be put on hold, or at least work will be dramatically slowed. The focus has to be on Jungle-bunny.
What to do with the title? I don't know. The content guidelines forbid 'offensive' or 'disparaging' material but that is still vague. It error on the side of caution I will probably rename the book.
Anyway, that is it for now. More later as additional information is available. Wish me luck.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
This is a big decision for me and, while I will continue looking for an agent, it could complicate things in that area. The contest is called the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.
The last contest I entered was last year. It was the Writer's Digest annual contest and I entered my screenplay, "Loss of Consortium." And while I didn't win, I got an honorable mention in the screenplay category, which was quite something since it was my first screenplay. But at the time I was concentrating on finishing my first novel, "Fighting Chaos," and decided against pursuing anything with screenplays.
I didn't enter the Amazon contest last year with Chaos and I'm glad I didn't. It really wasn't good enough and still isn't. The story will need to be overhauled and I'm not willing to do that at the moment.
But I have grown since writing Chaos and Jungle-bunny is in much better shape to begin with. So I am going with it.
I will write more about the contest later but it runs for one week, Feb. 2-9. The entry form and related materials can only be submitted then. It must be fiction, 50,000 to 100,000 words in length, in English, by an individual author, unpublished. While free, the contest requires a 'pitch' letter (the requirements of which I am still trying to determine), biographical information and a 3,000 to 5,000 word exempt of the first part of the novel.
The grand prize, which will be announced by late may or early June, is a $25,000 contract with Penguin books for the publication of the novel, plus marketing of the work. Last year, a number of the 10 finalists who didn't win the overall prize got noticed in the industry and ultimately got publishing contracts.
I am not putting all my eggs into a single basket but this is a basket I can not ignore. the organizers -- Penguin and Amazon -- expect as many as 10,000 entries and the contest is judged in stages, starting with the pitch letter. But If I could make it to the quarter- or semi-finals I will have gone a long way.
This is going to require a lot of preparation and hard work pouring over the novel again and again and writing it yet one more time. Plus there is the pitch letter. I'm not sure what to expect with that. But I am going to get it done in time to submit all my material early in the morning on Feb. 2. I'm not going to wait.
This means, of course, that additional work on "The Death of Art" will be put on hold, or at least work will be dramatically slowed. The focus has to be on Jungle-bunny.
What to do with the title? I don't know. The content guidelines forbid 'offensive' or 'disparaging' material but that is still vague. It error on the side of caution I will probably rename the book.
Anyway, that is it for now. More later as additional information is available. Wish me luck.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
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