Busy B

It certainly took Kindle Scout long enough to review, just to get back a rejection. I've seen some Hot and Trending books tanking on there so there's no telling what their criteria there is. Honestly, I'm so sick of identity politics deciding trends these days that I'm more than happy to continue self-publishing. 

So I'm putting UnNamed to the paces to prepare it for a release this week. Have not yet decided on pricing, but I'm thinking $3.99 for the ebook, but print will be determined by print cost. Once that goes through, please look for Book 3 completing the Truth about Heroes trilogy by the end of February. I'm working on painting the cover this week then I'll set that up. I'm hoping to shove all three into a text-only omnibus as well.

Believe me, this is no Cloud Nine experience. It's fraught with highs and lows like any other. As frustrating as that can be. I've only been doing this since August. Barely over half a year since I put myself out there. I don't market much and a good deal of groups don't let you unless you're in on the circle jerk. Which I'm not. I'm just not into manipulation when all I want to do is find an honest audience. I'm probably a little too 'pure' for quick results.

This is also part of the reason why I'm aching to do a web comic. I get a lot of positive feedback for my drawn stories. I can't churn out ideas with the same satisfying speed as writing alone when I'm drawing, but I do get a lot of positive feedback for my style and wit.

And let's face it-- I'm not one of those group hug types. I don't spend gobs of time stalking other writers and artists because I'm crunching to do the actual work. Oh, and I'm just not the fangirl type. I don't get starstruck, I don't rub elbows and squee. I might collaborate, but I'm a bit of a slave-driver when it comes to work. I'm sure that works for some people, but I'm just not a girlie-huggie kind of person. Yes, I probably do have a feminine voice as a writer and I write about things that I like, which as a woman are probably things other women will like. But I'm just not a we-womens-gotta-stick-together ride-or-die-girlfriend type either. Hyphens mean serious business, I'm telling you.

I will never ever claim to be an expert and I'm not looking to convince you I'm an expert. In fact, as much as I've read, the more I find Ernest Hemingway's simple quote to be true: "We are ALL apprentices in a craft that no one ever masters." Sure, we all want to make a mark, be quoted, have fans-- I would never deny that. However, if that means being safe or trendy, forget about it. I'll take a little niche market where all I can ever afford is making my fish eat as long as I can tell my stories.

You've seen plenty of my writing in public forums by now. I hope that if you haven't checked out my writing, you do so. Keep in mind, I know there's a lot of cringe in the introduction of my first series' book. I had always debated about rewriting it, but the more I read it and cringed, the more I realized that the awkward charm was fitting for the very awkward start of an adventure. I didn't want these characters to be eloquent and bad ass right out of the gate. It may or may not have been a good decision, but I committed to it because there are other stories to write and sometimes you just have to let your babies grow up. I feel like as the series matured, it began to show off the years I put into it. My characters were maturing with me (or dying off or 'retiring').

For that reason, UnNamed is a testament to how I matured as a writer. I think one of the best things about the advent of self-publishing is that we can let people see our work and learn how to market and value our own work. We can aim to please or aim to challenge and there are no literary snobs that have the power to shut us down. We get to grow in the public eye, not just when someone deigns to look down their nose at us. And it's a beautiful thing, somewhat quaint and ancient, like times when all you needed was a bound book and quill, copying each word by candlelight to immortalize your words. Now, anyone who puts in the time and passion can put a piece of themselves to market.

Woe betide the reader who now has to weed through the garden with all this burden of choice and no guarantees! So like the days when I picked up a book with no words on its cover, no idea what I was about to read and took a chance. Some of the touted classics bored me to tears but I've found joy in the 'trash' that critics will slam too. I don't think self-publishing dirtied the pool. There have been bad covers, poor editing and crappy plots long before that was ever a thing. Whatever standards people will claim exist to preserve the 'dignity' of literature have long been tainted by trend and politics and the whims of agents and publishers. It has never been a pristine pool and to be honest, my fondest memories of swimming were never in chlorinated pools but in dirty creeks.

Lastly, all my love to the risk takers who will read a new author's work (and not just the ones on those circle-jerk lists). It's so difficult to get those people who will invest time in you, who find you interesting and refreshing and want to see what you can do. I'm going to write with no guarantees of fortune or fame. I'm not going to please everybody, but I'd like to believe I have something to contribute. So I'll labor under that hope.

Keep writing! And stay tuned for more updates.