A Quickie Update!

Still working on the drafted drawing from the last post, but I'm down to fiddling the hair, shading and color work. 

Busy weekend/week ahead. I celebrate Cinco de Mayo with my friends, an annual get-together I aim to never miss. I bake my grandma's M&M cookies for it so I'll be up early to get that done.

Tuesday, doctor appointment. Absolutely love my new doctor, so I look forward to these. She's really helped point me in the right direction. Wednesday, bridal shower. My niece Melody is marrying a guy she loves on May 24, so I'm happy for her. Also baking cookies for the shower. Thursday, waitressing. Friday, the Spirit Walk for the boys' school.

So Monday might seem empty but after an hour long talk with Joe yesterday, I'm going to organize pictures he can use on the website he's building me and he's on it for a solid marketing plan as well. It's a great exchange going on--in return, I'm going to design some elements for fantasy layout sites and also consult with his friend to do some custom work for that site as well. He is certain my work would really boost interest so I'm also eager to give it a shot.

Once the school year winds down, I'm confident the more relaxed schedule will allow for more focused work. Since I just mentioned those details of what I hope to work on in the last one, I won't belabor that here, just reiterate that I'm eager to get going there as well.

Oh, I did mention ComicCon before, but I'm holding off on this year. I prioritized buying new equipment so I still need to purchase displays, print banners and business cards and bookmarks, whatever else I researched material-wise and rather than try to crunch that in last minute, I'll just gradually continue to gather that together as the money allows. I would also like to focus on the website, marketing, and broadening my body of work a bit more. I might still attend as a guest, since I usually go with my nephew Thomas each year, and it continues to be good research for ideas on when I do set up my own.

Yes, this is my idea of a quick update, but there were a lot of bases to cover and it's still brief, considering.

I'll most likely sneak back over here to throw up the finished image I'm working on. I'd like to use it in some form on both my business cards and my site but that may change. I may just use it on one or the other and make a similarly themed one to use on the other. I usually get a feel for these things once I've played with the finished image a bit.

Let's get through this week for now and see where things land!

Finishing Move

No blog of mine would be complete without an occasional video game reference and this one is a perfect fit for the after-publishing dance.

Authors have many different ways of taking this on: launching into more marketing and promotions, working on the next book, taking a break and clearing the mind.

But to say it's the same even for the same person would be wrong. In the beginning of my journey, it was a scramble for everything. I almost never start from scratch, having started many drafts just to avoid any square-one paralysis. I can't say for sure it actually does that since I've never worked exclusively on any one piece so there's never a blank slate to start with. 

Juggling three transitions--writing, marketing and resting, while doable, make each of them watered down to their purpose. For me, there was little productive about the transitions. I wasn't peaking without writing binges, I wasn't focused on where and how I was marketing and whenever I tried to rest, my head was torn between the rigid footwork of marketing and the floaty imagination of writing. I'm sure I told myself I was a superwoman and handling it beautifully, but now I can see that, while I was handling it, each of them deserved more dedication to their purpose.

Writing right after publishing can keep you from forgetting too much of the material so it seems like a natural fit, especially with a series, yet that presents issues too. Some stories seem best served by a little rumination period, one where I relive the written moments and create some mental 'bonus content' that humanizes (assuming they're human) the characters. To fly ahead in the story isn't always fortuitous. I've found it makes for a rushed draft that often needs a LOT of additional scenes to create the right moods and transitions. I can't say exactly which stories will need it since I'm right and wrong about my own. They do get fixed over the editing and I'm not certain it's beneficial to presume you know your story that well, especially before it's been drafted. It's work and hindsight always creates a 'should've' mentality that is about 50% helpful regardless. 

Marketing after publishing... Well, tip pages seem to stress that this should begin about six months prior to publishing. It probably should. I've focused less on that and more on the tip that says "write more books." While marketing can be immensely helpful, I've known just as many people who dump gobs of time and money into it and wish they could get both back. Some books hit the sweet spot of the zeitgeist and it markets itself. I just want to do the work so, while I post about releases, I leave it at that and focus on the next project.

Or... I take a break. It's probably the most difficult because my brain does whatever it pleases and it aches to create even when my body throws a hard negative. Yet, even if that means restlessly jumping from crochet to bead sprites to video games, it's important to consume. Friendships, familyships, spaceships, whatever--no matter how obsessed you are with your work, sometimes you need that hunger, that unpredictable inspiration, to fan the flame. Some people fear that time away will smother the flame, create apprehension to return, but those fears are more often unfounded. Even if those fears persist, you should take it as a sign that something needs fixed in another aspect of life and welcome the block as a form of self-maintenance.

But writing IS your go-to! Not right then, it isn't. If your identity is too wrapped up in any one thing, you're making it way too easy for your life to collapse. A decent foundation needs many supports so why would mental stability need any less?

So there's no right or wrong. They all have benefits but this time around, I'm no more confident I'm making the best decision. I'm taking a break. Maybe a little too long, but the past week was a trial I couldn't ignore. I'd like to continue releasing my current series on my mom's birthday, but it may mean it won't be my most focused time. And I certainly should have it set up by the beginning of February like I did this time. There's just the possibility that I'll be really murky around that time and my work should not suffer for it.

New to Me

While it's almost impossible to make an idea wholly original, most of us actually aren't looking for that anyway. In the many books I've read, the many words I've filtered through me, there are a lot fewer moments of profound change in my thinking or mood by comparison. I pore through entertainment of all types rarely expecting a revelation anymore--sometimes I'm just banking on a nostalgic high.

I didn't get into Game of Thrones for being original. For all of its taboo topics, it wasn't even shocking. If anything, it took all the parts that people were already writing about throughout human history and stopped letting powerful prudes cut them out. It's not some morally depraved trickery on the part of modern times but at some point, we stopped seeing sense in protecting grown-ass adults from controversial topics. They are still rated and able to be kept from children with the ease of technology but they aren't stricken from consumption by people who have every right to make that decision for themselves. 

GoT, however, was still original in a sense that today's trends are not. It's not a remake of a story already done, sometimes in the exact same media as before, ten or more years later. The characters and names and specific plots are not suspiciously or even blatantly mimicking something else.

My own stories? After not looking at them for a few years, those are new to me too. I rarely ever replay a game, reread a book, or rewatch a movie... Or rather, I don't ever plan to. The tendency I have is to think of something I once consumed and, if I can't think of it right away, it only builds this insane need to re-experience it when I can remember.

This can go badly. While I haven't yet cringed at my published stories, I've certainly murdered the magic of nostalgia by attempting to revive it. Instead of always insisting I relive it, sometimes I do look for something similar.

With a caveat. I will almost always ignore any attempt by authors, reviewers, etc. to compare it to a popular title. It's one thing to list inspirations in a bio but I am naturally suspicious of anyone who uses the popularity of something else to sell a story. In my experience, the ways it is 'like' something are not at all the ways I have hoped it was. The problem with telling me your work is like Stephen King is that the man is prolific and his own work isn't like the rest of his work. J.K. Rowling? If you mean it's set in a magic school, I've already read (and not finished) about 50 stinkers with that theme. I'm interested in knowing if it's a light or heavy read and, as for the nostalgia? 

Marketing doesn't nail that. It's kind of a weird set of feelings. It could be some element of a book cover, a font, a description or it could be the first book we dig out of a church sale crate. I'm not looking for a shiny bestseller, but a secret treasure. Not new, but new to me. 

And here's the thing: the next Tolkien will always be a man. We're a long way from a world that stops passing a gendered torch. That's not to say it wouldn't be flattering to be called the next Ursula Le Guin or Anne McCaffrey but those aren't household names. J.K. Rowling? (Again, she's a question; sorry, Joanne.) Go into purist fantasy circles and while, she's a token name to say 'see, a woman's successful in fantasy', she's also more deeply excluded on a list of 'serious' fantasy contenders. 

So I'm not going to navigate any genre by its bestsellers. While Netflix and Hulu are making bolder, sexier, more diverse choices (not always successfully, but gotta love them for going for it), there are many creatives struggling for a fair chance. While I'm not a fan of identity politics putting the squeeze on entertainment, it's just as true that perspectives of all kinds (and not at the expense of the white male) need to be observed.

However, some attempts are laughable. The insurgence of corny 80s style family comedies featuring people of color are terrible. They weren't good when it was white people and it's not less disturbing that these are all-black, all-Asian or all-Latin casts. It's too on-the-nose segregated in a way that backpedals on being 'woke' (and fuck that stupid term). There was a show on Hulu, I think it was called Here and Now, with a hippie white couple that adopted kids from all races and despite my initial wariness that it was going to be another on-the-nose heavy-handed toddler-lecturing hot mess, I was surprised to find a lot of cultural honesty, human fallibility and even a suspenseful fantasy element. Look it up and watch it. I'm disappointed it didn't get at least one more season.

Not every trip into diversity will be amazing. It's going to have a lot of clumsiness to start. It's not proof it's all terrible. However, diversity for the sake of diversity shouldn't be the rule either. Not all same race or same gender casts will be glaringly awkward. Some do work without a forced element of biased education or flatness. I don't care for Lena Dunham but I did enjoy what I've seen of Girls. It's not even a requirement to like the actors or anything else they've done. When I'm looking to bond with an idea, I'm not the sort to let hangups lead me. Perhaps this is why marketing is so lost on me. Not only does it not influence me, I can't commit to anything that assumes other people are that easy.

I just want people to know I'm an option. You may or may not like my work. It may remind you of something you've read. Whatever the case is, it will be new to you and original in its own way.

Bonus points if it resonates with you.

To Niche or Not to Niche

It may have crossed my mind that self-publishing just doesn't favor popular genres. At least for a new author. I don't necessarily mean that Sci-Fi/Fantasy itself is more likely to fail, but I have noticed that the niche subgenres do much better than those who opt for general subgenres. For instance, LGBT fantasy is one of those that thrive in self-pub; romance as a whole is also one of those quick and dirty self-pub treasure troves.

That isn't to say I'm going to hop on the temptation to opt for straight smut-- I'm happy writing along where the tide takes me, but it does mean that it might be a route to consider down the line. There are some really odd and interesting combinations that actually make me relieved that I'll never have the most ratchet combinations ever. Sure, I guess self-pub is the reason behind the blown up entry of kooky subgenres, but if you say that bitterly, then you're missing the point for why self-pubbing is a wonderful beast of many heads (and butts! Double butts with heads of their own! This is probably a joke with a niche but it would be comedy gold, or at least silver, with my nephews.).

I'm not beating a dead horse by repeating all the asinine gripes attempting to vilify self-pub and return to the gatekeeping days of creative slavery. Why the hell do critics against change always sound like redneck racists? We don' wunt yer kind aroun' here... All the same, while it's a bit of a gamble, the choices are really exciting to me as a reader and a writer alike. Iffy topics are no longer filtered by prudish editors and publishers, for one. I'm not rubbing my hands together and laughing like a pervert here. I don't immediately mean sexual subjects here, which aren't off-limits anyway, but sometimes you just want to be a dragonkin crazy cat lady who drives a school bus and, while it might be a niche that is a hard sell, no one gets to deprive you of the joy in developing it and owning a copy of it and making it easily available to anyone who does.

Let's be honest, speed has no bearing on quality. Process doesn't assure that either. And no, your writing won't speak for itself because it IS a competitive market that we're virtually invisible in. This is why a lot of people are turning to niche genres to look more popular than they are. Even if you're first in Nonfiction>Insects>Ants>Ant Farms that #1 still looks impressive and makes the algorithm take notice. (Take note: vendors are well aware of the potential for abuse so lying about the genre of your book is a good way to be banned from every using self publishing platforms. If you're going to snatch up an odd subgenre, you'd better be able to defend how it fits.)

So yeah, I'm considering some off-kilter ideas ahead. Right now, I love my complex fantasies. I love the many twists and turns and planned madness of my ambitious passion projects. I'm going to love my most frustrating characters (until I can't stand them!) and I'm going to build worlds like I've done since I was a child. I'm going to draw passable maps and sometimes scribble down some rough idea of what they look like that I'm never that settled on. There will be cover art that doesn't consider trends and quick erotic scenes sandwiched by violent suspense. I'll put characters through hell but give them seven minutes in heaven. 

I think niches will be a fun thing to explore for marketing. There's real potential to draw curious eyes with a little inventive thought. Fantasy, being so naturally flexible, may never be a playground I fully leave. Yet the idea that I just haven't been standing outside the right clubhouses is out there. 

They say you have to write to market to sell. However, I like to think that even the kooks are out there in bigger numbers than we think, loving that markets give them anonymous ways to let those freak flags fly. In this golden age of publishing, readers and writers can have their cake and eat it too.