I'm almost done with my first list. I estimate 2000 changes or typos have been made in the course of editing six novels. Still, a lot more work to do.

"Seemed" is a bad word. I removed them where I could, and it strengthened the overall. Made things more immediate. I was right when I said I'll be editing for a while. I see the end of the month here and gone with me still picking through it all, making things right. If it takes to the end of the year and then some, so be it. I'm going to take my time. So far, I estimated I've made close to two thousand changes. And once I'm done with the list, I still have to read them all aloud, one at a time. Make more changes.

Now you can post a comment without leaving your name.

I'm up to the letter "P". I posed a question over at the Central Park blog, about whether I should post a short story next month, or post a novel. I could put a full page or two up (my 12 pt. single spaced pages) every other day. Thoughts?

The word "into" is a simple word, which is liberally peppered throughout any novel, and I have six of them at once I’m editing. There is "in" and "to" and "into" and places where the sentence construction is poor, and must be modified. Either way, I’ll be at this for the next two days. The price I have to pay for my future readers. During this time I’ve been listening to books on discs, saving a choice few for later examination. Voice, pacing, and how they build a visual within my mind, or don’t. Bestsellers all, yet all have their faults. Can I identify their faults? Keep faults like these out of my work? Right now, I’m treating them as background filler. Something to listen to while I go over my novels. Their words do two things for me right now, and that’s entertain, and when I do have to restructure a sentence they help me choose the right words. Words that work. I never create listening to books on disc, but when I’m editing, it’s great. Try it.

530,000 words, six novels, two and a half weeks later, and I up to the letter "I" on my massive list. I found about sixty (60) real typos (10 of those in Central Park, in the Fall, and that's after I thought I fixed everything), and I removed about 500 redundant words, and probably made, for grammar’s sake, several hundred changes. I’m surprised by how much I don’t know, and pleased by how much I do. Almost six hours on the word "good" taught me there are catch phrases I used that I should eliminate. Three different catch phrases so far, primarily in one novel or another. Still, I never would have noticed their overuse, editing one novel at a time. This has forced me consider my words from a unique perspective. That of an outsider, looking for mistakes, making repairs.

With the art done it’s back to the editing, and with a half-million words to look over, I’ll be at it for a while. I’m at the letter "F", halfway through, and it’s going better than I expected. I’ve probably made a thousand corrections or changes, all for the better. Some items on that list show up when you least expect them, and looking for possible typos leads to changes that do nothing but make all six novels stronger. More . . . writing to the point. I noticed three phrases I needed to drop completely, being somewhat counterproductive. Words overused, and the wrong words for what I wanted to express. Proper grammar. Tomorrow’s post will be just as boring as today’s post. Well, maybe not. I think I’ll lie. Tell my story. Make my writer’s life seem that much more exciting!

I started this morning with the top photo, and ended my day with the finished cover art. I think it works. I still need to shoot the photo I’ll use for the cover art itself, but not today.

Art can be a pain in the ass, but it must be done. The above background is my morning, and the below background is the rest of my day. It’s a start, and the rest of tonight will be working, and reworking Eona. I can only hope it looks great when I’m done. I did have some areas that tore out, were glued down and touched up. It happens to the best of us.

It's up! The story told in the second person POV. Comments?

Had company, I'll post tomorrow.

Editing is boring, but must be done, and done right. I have a new story ready to post, and will get that up tomorrow. It’s in the second person POV, so don’t miss it.

The Writer Beware Blogs; the link is to the right for a reason. Writers should know who to avoid and why. Who is real, and who isn’t. A lot of changes are now taking place within the publishing landscape, and new scams will pop up as old scams are exposed. Keep an eye out. Protect yourself. I say this because I’m one of those people who tries new things. I stick my neck out, often, and I’ve been stung more than a few times. It hurts. Keep an eye on things. And . . .

　

Reading about author marketing tactics from readers who actually buy books boils down to one thing only, and that’s word of mouth. Giving away books to reviewers and readers, starting the ball rolling; posting the first three chapters for potential readers to devour; old fashioned radio skits (now as podcasts), using sound effects like in radio’s pre-television heyday. Reader reviews for all to see. Interviews on sites where readers flock. These are readers telling me this. Readers who bought books because of the above on-line recommendations. Now I have to make yet another list, and incorporate the above into a marketing plan THAT WORKS!

I try to understand good storytelling. What goes into that story, and why. The why is important, and the what takes thought. The Self-Publishing Review is . . . interesting at its best, annoying at its worst. What happens there is indicative of the entire professional publishing industry as a whole. Magazines, agents, publishers. Basically, she counts fifteen mistakes in however many pages, and she stops reading. If you have fifteen mistakes on your first page, you’re done, and so is she. I’m fairly sure they all do that. Pro magazines, agents and publishers. As much as I enjoy her ruthless honesty, I wouldn’t send anything of mine. In one book alone I’ve made about 200 corrections. Most were punctuation mistakes. I also removed a slew of redundant words, and found twenty new typos. I’m still not done. When I am, I would have to spend about $3,000 (not in this lifetime) to have an editor go over it all one last time; a comprehensive line by line edit, just to be sure. I’m 98.9% percent now, and will be 99.8% when I’m completely done. Will it be enough? Me, alone, with only myself to rely on? Probably not. I have six agent-rejected novels now, but I’m doing this for my future readers. My next six novels will probably be rejected, and one can hope they won’t be, but the reason won’t be me or my writing.

　

BTW, many thumping-great novels will never see print. Agents see them now and again, but if they can’t sell them to a publisher, they send out a form rejection slip. Their words. Their truth. Sucks shit, doesn’t it? LOL

I took today off, but yesterday I worked on editing. Down below is a link to a list of things that can and do go wrong with our words, even with the best of us. That is the list I've been working on, for the last two weeks, using it for six finished novels, and I made a lot of changes to all six novels. I finished the rough drawing for my new cover, have a pen name in mind that nobody else has used, and once I'm done, I'm going to push myself as hard as I can. I'll post everyday, if I can, and for the two people who subscribe, tell me what you want. My knowledge is vast, and I want to know what you think. Sixteen years of this, and I'm still plucking away. I'm going to make it. The last piece of the puzzle is in place. This is the time, the very bottom of new and great things, for you as well as me. I'll put up a new story soon, and will update my third blog when I get something finished. Not things to do, but things done.

I'll be rethinking this blog, so hang tight. See you soon.

While the work proceeds more slowly than I want it to, which happens, akin to shit happens, I want you to think about the truth. Truth is subjective, up to a point. There are dozens of truths by confirmed practitioners, published sources, and the ever popular trade journals. Publisher’s Weekly can tell you all about what is happening right now, and can help you penetrate possible trends. If you can’t break in with something hot, hot, hot, chances are you’re not. Art for art’s sake vanished thirty years ago, was found again briefly by selective, legitimate small publishers, only to die this last year along with the economy. I dressed myself up, and as I pull together my next few novels, I’m proudly prostituting myself. I’m a literary whore. I’m targeting what will give me and my talent the best chance there is at breaking in. The art (for me) is in the storytelling, and I can tell a good story. I’m aiming for what’s hot, hot, hot! That’s my truth, and I earned it.

　

Most of what I read on the Web is the same shit warmed over, served as truth. Only you can decide what is what and why. Agent blogs are good for the truth, but I suggest you boil down a whole lot of them, and most of their posts into a few very simple truths. Because there are only a few simple truths to be found.

　

Know the mechanics.

　

They want hot, hot, hot!

　

Don’t be boring. Get into your phrases and verb strong. New ways to say the same old things, so express yourself. That there is the art, and your voice.

　

Query with strength, making your synopsis count.

　

Follow their guidelines.

　

Concentrate on one genre, and make the big idea behind everything easy to serialize.

Most authors have between five and fifteen books under their belts before they get offers of representation. I expect that to become ten to twenty books, if not more. You might get lucky the first time out, but don’t count on it. However, once you make it you can cash in on all that hard work.

　

The seven above truths are better than gold. They are all that counts, agent and publisher alike. All there is. Put a few years under your belt, continue to read all you can get your hands on, and you will know that these simple to understand seven truths are the literary alpha and omega. See you next week.

What I need is to get things moving on Central Park, in the Fall. I need to make one last pass, another polish edit, and shine it up right. I’ll update my acknowledgments page and order forms to reflect the here and now, plus current prices. Then I need to develop two PDF files. One for the paperback, one for the e-book. I’m not paying anyone for self-publishing. Never again. There are some great services out there, like I said, that seems to be drawing readers, and they don’t cost a damn thing. I need to research the service first, use it, and find out if it works. That’s where marketing comes into play. I need to work on my marketing skills, pointing readers to the right places to purchase my novels. That’s a whole new set of skills, needing to be developed. If I can pull it all together, it should work, but that’s also the rub. It might not work, and I’ll need to decide then if it’s the service, or me. Three times I’ve been ripped off by service providers. Three times too many.

　

Nothing is going to happen for me until I get my novel ready to go. Where am I on that? I did a test PDF file and learned I needed to tweak the formatting. I indent a quarter inch, not the standard half inch. I think the text looks better that way. I’m updating my acknowledgments and the order forms now. Once all this is done, I need to go line by line to see what the formatting does on the finished file, and if I need to, fix things. Once done, making sure my book is up to submission specs, and the fonts used are properly embedded, I’ll self-publish one novel in two formats, using multiple sites.

　

I need to be 100% with my book. It must read as if it was professionally produced, every step of the way. That takes time. I’ll make that time, rather than embarrass myself, again. I have no choice in this, I must be 100% with my book. See you next week.

A thousand good words a day, with some time off or implode. That’s the norm. Chapter five is done, but I will go back after chapter six to beef up the description on this. It’s a new world, and needs proper description. I don’t want to overdo it, so will have to be careful. 22,000 words so far means eight days off, and the month isn’t over. I want 30,000 words a month with weekends off, and with the coming winter, I don’t see a problem with that. The garden is over. I’ll mow the lawn two more times this year for whatever leaves and clippings I can get. Next year’s garden is going to kick ass,

　

On the business side: I gathered my finished short stories into one large file, 230 single-spaced pages, 14pt. Times New Roman, and proceeded to use the first of two checklists. The first checklist is here. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html#errors

It’s a big list, with lots of words to check, but worth the trouble. Use the Find and Replace feature of your word program’s Edit tab. Find everything, but fix it yourself. Less mistakes that way.

　

The second list is one of my own creation, and comes in two parts. Part one is a words to waste list, and/or, my make sure I got my word right list. Most of these words are overused and could vanish from the text without hurting a damn thing, writing more to the point. Sometimes you put in you, when you meant your, or you’re. When the story grabs you, and you wrote it, it’s hard to correct everything on one or two editing passes. This list helps find those errors, especially when all you have is yourself. I don’t have beta readers. Then, some notes about what is universally true, but not really talked about, borrowed from many places. Part two is my multiple words into one better word list. Verb from a position of strength. And remember, use the Find and Replace feature of your word program’s Edit tab. Find everything, but fix it yourself. Less mistakes that way.

　

NO

ON

IN

SO

AS

UP

NOW

INTO

WHEN

THEM

WERE

WE’RE

TO

DIE

YOU

DYING

BUT

AND

HAD

WAS

THE

NOW

ALL

HERE

KNOW

LEFT

MORE WITH

THEY’RE

ITS

THROUGH

NEXT

OUT

THEY

THAT

EVEN

JUST

OVER

HAVE THEIR

THERE

RIGHT

THOSE

THESE

YES

THREW

THEN

SOME

FROM

GOOD

VERY

ALSO

THIS

ONTO

THOUGH

BESIDES

ALWAYS

OF THE

BIRTH

TOO

DYE

THAN

DOWN

TWO

AGAIN

BERTH

BORNE

BORN

IT

MEAT

MEET

HERS

　

RIGHT HAND, LEFT FOOT THING. Let the reader decide which hand is being used, unless important to the narrative, making a specific point. The killer was right handed, ect.

　

Set the following in italics: books, periodicals, newspapers, long poems, plays, movies, TV and radio shows, operas and long musical pieces, record albums, works of art.

　

Set the following in quotations marks: chapter titles, articles in magazines, individual episodes of television and radio shows, short poems, essays, song titles.

　

WHO/WHOM — Use who and whom instead of that to refer to people and animals with names. Use who when it is the subject of a sentence, clause, or phrase. For example, Lassie is the dog who saved Timmy. Use whom when it is the object of a verb or preposition. For example, Timmy is the boy whom Lassie saved.

　

Mix it up. Start a sentence sometimes without using I, He, She, You, They, the name of your protagonist or antagonist, or the subject.

　

SAT DOWN - SAT - PLACED

STOOD UP

SHOWED UP - ARRIVED

WENT OVER - SCRUTINIZED - EXAMINED - DEFECTED

LIVED ON - CONTINUED - REMAINED - INHABITED

FLIPPED ON - ACTIVATED

PUT OUT

TURNED INTO - BECAME

PICKED APART - DECIPHERED - DISMEMBERED

DREW CLOSE

BURST APART - EXPLODED - SPLOOSHED

FOUND OUT - DISCOVERED

ISSUED FORTH - ERUPTED - GUSHED

CAME BACK - RETURNED

MOVED IN - PRESSED

POPPED UP - SPROUTED

WRAPPED AROUND - ENCIRCLED - SURROUNDED

PULLED OPEN - YANKED

LIVED THROUGH - SURVIVED

FOLDED BACK

OPENED UP ON

SHOT OUT

SANK DEEP

THE SMELL OF THE THING - ITS STENCH

IN AND OUT OF

CAME IN CONTACT WITH - APPROACHED

EARLY ON

TOOK OVER - CAPTURED - COMMANDEERED - ASSUMED

PUT AWAY - CONCEALED

BLEW UP

THROWN UP - LAUNCHED

BROKE THROUGH - PIERCED

COMES OUT WRONG

CAME OUT OF - EXITED

HAD ON - WORE

GOING ON

SUDDENLY

ALL AT ONCE

SOON AFTER

WEARING THIN - EXHAUSTING

DOWN ON

BEEN IN - OCCUPIED

A LOT OF - NUMEROUS - MANY

PICKED UP - PROCURED - SNAGGED

CLOSED AROUND - ENCIRCLED

SPRUNG OUT - BOINGED

SLID UP AND DOWN - STROKED

MADE UP - COMPRISED

DROPPED OFF - RETURNED

FUCKED UP - OBLITERATED

NEXT TO - BESIDE

USED UP - EXHAUSTED

COULD OF - COULD HAVE

OPENED UP - PARTED - UNFOLDED

THREW UP - PUKED - BARFED

OVER AND OVER - REPEATEDLY

IN FACT

IN TURN

IN OTHER WORDS

IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS

AND SO

MOVED FORWARD - ADVANCED

STRIKE BACK - RETALIATE

STRUCK BACK

LEFT BEHIND - REMAINED

COUNTED OFF - TALLIED

CLOSED OFF - SECURED

TONED DOWN - SUBDUED

FIND OUT

COME BACK

WENT BY

HOLD OFF

HEADED OUT - LEFT

MAKE FOR - LEND - GIVE

PUT UP - ERECT - RAISE

GAVE UP - SURRENDERED

BACKED UP - RETREATED

PULLED UP - EASED - SLIPPED

PULLING APART - UNRAVELING

SAT ON - SAT IN - OCCUPIED

CAME OVER - APPROACHED

BROUGHT ABOUT - COMPELLED -

　

My personal lists are never complete. I add to it from book to book. See you next week.

Chapter four is finished, and I like it. It works. Chapters five and six are next, and I’m working off three pages of handwritten notes that took almost a day to sort through. First I did the tape recorder thing again, spouting off random thoughts. Upon hearing them I put them in order, filling up three notebook pages. I added four items to chapter four, details important to complete what was done, adding depth to what is to come.

　

On the business side of things, I noticed a new service that seems to have gathered just as many readers as there are writers. Of course it took a few years to reach that level a readership, but readers; wow! Think I’ll start with my short stories first, after a full edit, charging the reading public a whole dollar for each short story. I have nothing to lose, but I will try to gain my own readership there. I’ll go back through everything I have on marketing and shoot for the moon. I’ll tell you all about it, won’t skimp on the details, and maybe we’ll learn something together. See you next week.

I don’t pretend to be an expert at anything, however, I know my time is near. Actually, I think I’m past due. This week I went through my first three chapters, reviewing the plot points, actually listing them in my notebook, looking for threads I might have unintentionally dropped. I added three sentences, and four new lines of dialogue. I’m very happy with the first three chapters, but now they need to be ignored. Chapters four, five, and six must also shine. I’m not about to let my guard down. To that end I’m talking to myself into a tape recorder. I put a lot of stray thoughts into a couple of hours. Those thoughts are sorted out and transferred to paper, and the free writing begins. I took Sunday off, and ended today with 16,383 words worth of novel.

　

What isn’t talked about, yet is no less true.

　

Let me take it from the top. Know the mechanics, plus good grammar, and good punctuation. The mechanics of writing are universal, you learned them in school, but there are rules, and exceptions to the rules that are rules unto themselves. Know them. No one book lists them all, so buy two of the best. You will need the knowledge if you want your words to mean exactly what you want them to mean. What you say, is as important as how you say it. And between you and me, there isn’t any real rule about ending a sentence with a preposition. To say otherwise is to spread bullshit.

　

Punctuation is either open, which means long run-on sentences that annoy the hell out of you rather you’re willing to admit it or not because you think the writer has impact. Or punctuation is closed, which is more formal, can be very productive to overall meaning, while allowing the average reader to catch their literary breath. I prefer closed, and the trends do support me.

　

Voice is: Expressing yourself with style. Talking like your colorful uncle Bob, flapping his lips, hoping to fly. Having fearless fun expressing yourself. Freeing the storyteller inside. Dropping literary trou’, and shooting a verbal full moon.

　

Reading bad books teaches you how not to write, and reading good books teaches you how to write well. Read a lot of both, and never stop reading. Read two books a week, read one book a week. Read! See you next week.

I read something about self-publishing over at Pimp My Novel that bothered me. Basically it said that self-publishing is a waste of time, because 90% of everything out there is crud, what you have is most likely crud, and nothing good comes out of the experience. You’re not going to sell more than one or two books anyway, so why bother. (I was told, by just about everybody, that grass clippings in my garden would sour the soil, but it was the best thing I ever did. I may have grown only one 43 lb watermelon, but the other two almost weighed 20 lbs.) Here’s my point: It doesn’t matter what you do; have a dream, start a business, or write a book; there will always be people out there who want to shut you down, stop you with negativity, or want to put you in your place. Many self-published books have gone on to lift their respective authors up, into the larger world of corporate publishing. The Self-Publishing Hall of Fame is a fun read. It serves to remind me that assholes seem to be everywhere, and are meant to be ignored!

　

Plot is cause and effect, not the idea behind the story. We established that, but why do I mention this a second time? I take the time to know my characters, and because of that my characters do come alive for me, and they do lead me through their stories. It’s more real to let them do what they need to do, without me forcing them into some kind of cookie-cutter mold. I know how the story starts, and I know how the story ends, but their actions and reactions take me from A to Z. I provide the details needed to keep the story moving with real depth, without slowing the pace, but the characters themselves make it real.

　

What I do is layer in levels of sophistication.

　

I think a lot of books out there fall short when it comes to this storytelling technique. How many mediocre books have you read lately, knowing something was wrong with them, but not knowing what the problem was? If I start at the top, there has to be a level of sophistication present, looking at the book as a whole. The big idea (never outright mentioned) behind the entire story. The best example of this comes from Peter Straub’s Ghost Story. The idea behind the entire novel: Immortal shape-shifters with supernatural powers are responsible for all the ghost stories everywhere, from the beginning of human history.

　

Cities need levels of sophistication, and most do, if you know where to look. Clubs may run the gambit from country, to gay, to goth. Neighborhoods or apartment buildings can also have a level of sophistication, when one looks at the neighbors. Characters too need to have levels of sophistication. What defines them. What they do, or say, that makes them real. My protagonist is killing a nest of vampires, and I add this: Another pitcher stepped up to the mound, and my next swing took the husky bald guy’s head clean off. I watched him twitch all they way to the floor. I like it when they twitch all the way to the floor. My mind later replays that in slow motion. It’s how I get my jollies on.

　

There is the action itself, and how my character thinks in response to the action. Insight into who he is as a person. It’s a little thing, his thoughts to this one death, but it adds to both the story and to my protagonist a level of sophistication. When the opportunity arrives, things, thoughts, insights, they get slowly layered into the book. They are not dumped into the novel all at once.

　

To come to your own understanding of this (unknown, lost, but amazingly vital) process, a process nobody ever really talks about, think about the books that most impressed you. Pick the best one and reread it. Look for these levels of sophistication, starting at the top. (One ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.) Work your way through each tier, each level of sophistication. What is real to you, and why is it real to you? What tiny details does the author add, giving this world, city, building, character levels of sophistication?

　

And that, to me, is the difference between what makes a classic stand out from the ordinary, and the ordinary from the forgettable. See you next week.

Problems are meant to be solved. I spent half a day with my new TV Guide, mixing and matching first names to last, creating a master list of character names I can use. Adam Kidd, Erica Durst, Shannon Keith. They don’t exist at the moment, but they sound good, right? I could populate a subdivision with them, give them assorted children, and even give a few of those children an imaginary friend. Pet names, too. I need lists. These lists will help me move forward at breakneck speed, without getting lost. Who is who, and what they do. Objects and things, they need to be listed too, with descriptions on content, use, or capabilities. Odd physical descriptions of objects must be explored as if the objects in question are in front of me. That takes care of the physical world about to be created. I don’t have to guess at the details, because these details already exist for me. I know this world, and the characters that inhabit it; down to the last hairy wart on a boney flat ass, or juicy wad of gum in a crosswalk about to be stepped on. I provide only the details needed to keep the story moving with real depth, without slowing the pace.

My next problem: Plot is cause and effect.

It’s true. Most writers confuse plot with the idea behind a novel, but an idea isn’t plot. Plot blends all of a novel’s elements; the physical and emotional; between protagonist and antagonist; always diffuse yet genuinely dynamic. Plot is cause and effect. To that end I had to come up with a list of things that would further my plot, keeping it somewhat loose, yet fully structured. Something could happen I didn’t expect to happen, but it becomes a good thing. A happy accident. Whatever, and whatever it takes. A few items include: move him around, and then enclose him. Bring the tension up with real danger. Add a touch of strained romance. The punishment must fit the crime. Personal sacrifice due to circumstance too enormous to control. What is the motivation between segments? Can the emotional growth be mapped, beginning to end? I’m using plot to turn the screw.

I managed 8,000 words in the last two weeks. Not bad, but not good, either. I can do more, and need to do more. See you next week.

First up, my watermelon. This monster melon weighed in at just over 43 lbs. That’s my big boy, cradled safely in my arms. I’m rather proud of that melon, because it shows what composting everything compostable, week after week after week, can do for a garden.

My own publishing efforts are on hold due to negative cash flow. Yes, I could have turned myself into a clearinghouse publisher, publishing anybody willing to pay the large fee, but that’s not me. That will never be me. Mistakes of my own making or not, I want to be a real publisher of substance. Start with what I have, and then work my way up.

So, with a lot of research under my belt, it’s time to shit or get off the pot. I need a marketable novel, something that can become a series. I’m (hopefully) working on something wanted and popular that no agent or publisher in their right mind would turn away. I’m writing urban fantasy, with a male protagonist. I’m passionate about the story, and I’m having fun. That’s important. After that, something else wanted and popular. I’m thinking something with tweens. Several agents over the years have told me I can write, and I know I tell great stories, so I don’t see any problems with this plan.

The platform I’ve chosen is well within my abilities, and the concept I have for my comic art will evolve over time. I started production on the cover panel of a graphic novel. Graphic novels are a market segment that is growing in popularity, and will continue to do so over the next decade. I have an idea notebook I’m running as I work, so not to miss an opportunity. I’ll size the image on the panel, do my pencils, ink it, then color it with the airbrush. Crayola manufactures a watercolor set for around three dollars that makes (the most perfect) airbrush paint by the pot. 32 popular colors, allowed to melt in a film case three-fourths full of hot water. Shake, pour, spray. It’s that simple.

Letting potential fans know I’m out there with finished comic panels, that’s as easy as a Facebook and MySpace page. The art and the storyline should draw fans of all ages. I should be able to sell some books, too. See how it all ties together? All I need to do now is put in the work. As of yesterday I finished chapter one. I’ll keep sketching (using a 6H pencil) until I have what I want as a cover, finalize the art with a sharp number 2 pencil, and then add the ink and the paint. Each week I’ll share my progress. See you next week.

I found my flash drive here in the house.

Yeah, I feel stupid. See you Monday.

I’ve been looking into various e-publishing options; pretty much taking names and numbers. Everybody thinks they got it goin’ on. The fact is, readers are still needed everywhere I look. Publishers expect their future authors to have platforms. A base of fans/potential readers ready and waiting for any offering publishing produces. From a publisher’s POV I can see this as perfection personified, but the average author just can’t pop platforms out of their assholes on a whim and a fancy. Most authors have no idea where to start building their platforms, much less how to lay that first brick. How can authors be everything for a publisher before their first book is even published?

Think about it this way. What can you do? What are your skills? Can you make a name for yourself, doing what you do with the skills you have? If so, that’s your platform. It’s almost the same thing as, go with what you love the most, and then figure out how to make money from it.

Damn typos! Why can’t I see these things when it counts? See you next week.

I’m posting early. I lost one of two flash drives with all my writing on it. There was nothing personal on it, no passwords or banking information, but the fact that I may have lost it at the laundry mat bothers me. Nobody can sell my work. God knows I’ve tried to sell my novels for fourteen years without success. I have stacks of rejection slips to prove that, by the way. If I do find my work out there with someone else’s name on it, the lawsuit will be legendary. Be warned. So, I can only hope two things. I hope the wash cycle destroyed the information contained on it, or it’s still here in my house, somewhere. All I can do.

I really don’t have anything to say this week. I’ve been reading books. I’ve been sketching. Book seven is done, and now it needs to sit in my drawer for a few long months. Books eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve; they’re permanently on hold. Close to my heart or not, I can’t sell them. Writing is a business. As an alternative to what I want to do, I’ll write in two requested genres, pounding out potboilers. That’s all them agents and editors and publishers want, and that’s what they’ll get. See you next week.

This week President Obama and my-special-self, we both turn 48. Wow. Sucks, huh . . . Possible trends spotted were realistic military action in space, steampunk (look it up for yourself), and men’s urban fantasy. Think the Dresden Files. Add to those trends vamps and zombies. So, children, stupid yourselves down for the most part. Wonderfully written prose not wanted anymore. Learn updated Buffy-speak, all the modern cultural references you can shove into your head, and pepper with modern slang. Thinly plot your modern epic fantasy series, hoping you can come up with the big encompassing idea needed to actually make it a series. Now go for it. Some of you might make it.

Or you can imagine, if you will, someone asking you for a TV series. 22 episodes per year for five years. What is the core idea behind the series? Before any network will touch you, you have to have it all mapped out for them, and they have the money, but also the collective IQ of a pile of cashews. Spell it out for them. Keep the level of the series either adult or younger, but be consistent. Since you need to turn the above into five novels you have to pound out in a year or two, this is your guide. Characters, action, humor, mayhem. Lay it all out. Think as if these novels were to become movies. The money is already in your pocket. See the circular logic? How it might work? I do, and so should you. I’m wholeheartedly embracing the future, but not lowering my ideals. I have to think the readers out there actually want real substance within their genre fiction. Also, by continuing to see the world as I want to see it, perhaps I can find a way to shape it. I even figured out how to give myself a platform within the growing graphic novel segment.

Also, I’ve been noticing who has been dabbling in Young Adult (YA). James Patterson, and now Robert Parker. Who would have thought . . . See you next week.

I pulled this (not in its entirety) from the Editorial Anonymous blog, the July 19, 2009 post, for a damn good reason. This is a fine cut of circumstantial meat, with the sizzle and smell attached. Literary gold. An amazing bit of truth I just had to share. Editorial Anonymous is a children’s book editor, but I think (more like know from personal experience as a published and unpublished writer) this is a very good indicator of the reality behind some publishers, many editors, and all the documented-as-real agents out there today. To be fair, within my mind I removed the word kids (and the word child) from each line in the Consumer Interest in Topic portion, and substituted the word audience. I then held this candle up to my own writing, me writing what I feel most passionately about within my entire body of work, not thinking about trends, but writing what I myself as a reader would want to read, all six completed novels, and came up with a grand total of ninety-five (95) points, give or take. I was honest with myself, and my body of work. That Degree of Celebrity thing hurt the most. It was the Not recognized by anyone outside of books, but previously published -- 20 points thing. Even when I fudged on the lists I still couldn’t reach that 120 points level, so gave up trying. See you next week.

　

There are essentially three variables at work:

　



Quality of Writing



Consumer Interest in Topic



Degree of Celebrity

　

Editors want to weight things in terms of Quality of Writing. But editors also know that the Public -- the book-buying consumer -- cares a hell of a lot more about Topic and Celebrity than Writing. And yes, publishing is a business. So use this guide:

　

Quality of Writing

　



Transcendent -- 50 points



Excellent -- 45 points



Delightful -- 40 points



Good -- 35 points



Decent -- 30 points



Drivel -- 20 points



Culpable -- 10 points



An abomination to anyone above the IQ of an orangutan -- 0 points

　

Consumer Interest in Topic

　



I WANT that! -- 110 points



My kid won't shut up about that -- 90 points



My kid likes that, and so do I -- 70 points



My kid likes that, but I'm pretty tired of and/or annoyed by it -- 50 points



Hmm. Maybe? -- 30 points



No, thanks -- 20 points



Ew, really? -- 10 points



You couldn't PAY me to expose a child to this, and I'm writing to my congressman -- 0 points

　

Degree of Celebrity

　



Hollywood royalty -- 120 points



Hollywood and widely recognized -- 100 points



[Other field] and widely recognized -- 80 points



Not widely recognized, but still a certain amount of celebrity -- 60 points



Not recognized by anyone outside of books, but with a good track record -- 40 points



Not recognized by anyone outside of books, but previously published -- 20 points



Unknown -- 0 points



Famous for something people actively want to keep their children away from -- 0 points

　

Anything over 120 points total is going to be published.

Anything under 90 points total is going straight to the recycling bin.

The stuff in-between has a chance, but may be a long shot.