The Value of a State-of-the-Business Examination

It all started with a question and it ended up with a complete evaluation of my writing and publishing life.

One of my longtime book club friends--we're going on our twelfth year together--has a side business and it is not going as well as he envisioned. He explained why and then turned his attention to me. "How's the publishing game?  It's been a few years now, are you encouraged by how it's proceeding?"

What began as a reply to his email turned into a 3,300-word (and counting) evaluation of my writing life, my publishing life, where I am now, and where I want to go. With the day job and the family stuff, I don't have a ton of free time on my hands so the exercise stretched out the entire week. Not coincidentally, 1 May is my Writer's New Year's Day, a commemoration of my decision back on 1 May 2013 to start writing with purpose.

What followed was a technique I've used for years: a written dialogue. This is one where I ask questions of myself and then I answer them. And, since I'm literally talking with myself, I get to be brutally honest. Who else is gonna read this, right? 

Am I encouraged? That is an interesting way to ask how it's going. I've been pondering it for a few days and I have a two-part response: No, not really, but, at the same time, I have not been giving it the attention it deserves if I want to see results.

The Analysis Begins

Thus, by answering with a qualified 'no,' I started analyzing the parts of the business I can control. It goes back to one of my favorite phrases about publishing: Control the Controllables. I can control my writing, how much time I devote to it, and what I write. This is absent all talk of sales. I truly cannot control that. Neither can you. No one can. But we can control what we write. For me, it boiled down to time and speed. I can write fast and I can start a writing session on-the-run (so I don't have to build up speed) so the words the flow out usually are not a problem. 

Time proved the key factor. Despite me working from home, I realized I began 'sleeping in' on weekdays. When I had a commute, I used to wake at 5am. I kept that routine at the start of the working-from-home phase, but over the past year, my wakeup time slid later and later. Throw in the morning Bible reading and the amount of time I have to write in the pre-day-job quiet of the house ended up being 30-45 minutes. Sure, those minutes and words add up, but they are not truly as productive as I used to be.

Thus, to rectify my writing time, to control the controllables, I started waking earlier. Consequently, I also went to bed earlier. Give and take, right? I’ll be continuing that next week and the week after.

What is the Roadmap?

That’s the simple part. The larger thing is publishing schedule. I examined my available manuscripts. Including my current WIP, I have a dozen books either completely finished or close enough for a thorough edit. Why are these books not already in the pipeline? To that question, I had no answer. Laziness? Chalk it up to ‘not enough time in the week’? Hogwash. If I’m an indie author, then I make the time to publish what I write. I haven’t been. But I will be. 

Thus, I made a publishing schedule for the next 2.5 years. I’m still fine tuning it and allowing for me to slip in newly written manuscripts—I’m pretty jazzed on the current WIP and its sequels—but I have a roadmap. It’s what traditional publishers do, right? Same should be for me. And you, if you’re an indie. The next book I’ll publish is my Harry Truman book this summer.

Fixing the Online Stuff

Armed with a new publishing schedule, I examined my online life, specifically the websites. I have my blogspot blog which dates back over fourteen years and I don’t want to ditch it. I have my author website that needs a refresh. And I have my new project that’ll I’ll tease here for a summer launch, probably around the time of the Truman book’s publication. I’ve already stopped updating one website and will disband it this month. No need mentioning it here. It’s for the dustbin. 

Another aspect of online life is engagement. While I’m decent at it, I’m not as engaged as I want to be. Expect to see a little bit more of myself online on Twitter and Facebook.

The biggest online challenge is to create an online store. It’’ll be a way to sell direct to readers that’ll be as seamless as other online stores, enable me to increase my outreach, and pocket a little extra cash. The tools for this are present, I just need to implement them.

So, after a week’s worth of reassessment and the creation of a new roadmap, I have a better handle on my writing and the business of writing. What began as an email response with a somewhat dour answer has turned into a happy exercise and a renewed sense of purpose. I’m now ready to reply to my friend, but I won’t be copying the entire 3,300-word piece. I’ll just tell him to read this post. 

Do you have any of these State of the Business type things in your writing business? 

Writer's New Year's Day - 2019 Edition

It's been six years since I resolved to complete a story, and it has  made all the difference.

The Vision

Before 1 May 2013, I struggled to complete projects. I had one book done in 2006, my first. But I hadn't completed anything since. But I had an image in my brain--a man, wearing a fedora, knocking on the door of a 1940s-era bungalow house, and being answered with bullets--and I wanted to know what happened. I told myself I'd write that tale and complete it.

I did. That story ended up being WADING INTO WAR: A BENJAMIN WADE MYSTERY, the first book I published.

The decision, back in 2013, was inspired by a quote whose origins I have been lost to time: “A year from now, you may have wished you had started today.” Since then, every 1 May, I take stock of things since the last Writer’s New Year. This is the 2019 edition.

The Year of Calvin Carter

While I didn't publish much in 2017 or 2018, I kept writing. The end result is six books featuring Calvin Carter, actor turned railroad detective. For 2019, I decided to publish six books, one every other month, starting on New Year's Day. EMPTY COFFINS is the first book, while HELL DRAGON is the second. Today, the third book, AZTEC SWORD, is published.

Halfway there.

It's an exciting time, and now the advertising can really start. I gave a few thoughts to putting the books out one a month, ending in June, but I prefer the 60-day version. Now, with three books out, I can start creating buzz, get more people to read these books, knowing three more are coming before the year's out.

It's a business decision, one I never knew I could make back in 2013. Now, I make decisions like this all the time. I'm a small-business owner.

The Other Big Project...

...is still under wraps for the moment. I know it's crappy to tease something and not reveal the thing, but know that it is a major aspect of my business as I start Year Seven of this fun adventure. This time next year, I'll be able to assess whether or not The Other Big Project was worth it. In my head, it is. Now it'll just be up to me to make it a reality.

Keep the Writing Fun

Speaking of fun, I'm still doing my best to entertain that first reader: me. Taking a cue from a post Dean Wesley Smith wrote earlier this year--"No One Cares"--I'm still writing for myself. I know we're all supposed to do that, but if a particular book hits with the public, the temptation is to do it again and again. Granted, that's a little what the Calvin Carter books are, but they are still an experiment. Maybe the world doesn't need the exploits of a man I envision as the combination of Jim West, Artemus Gordon, Bret Maverick, and Brisco County, Jr. Only time will tell, but I know I'll be writing Carter yarns for a long time.

Because they are fun for me. This year more than most I'm spending time on the business side of things. But that aspect of this adventure never enters my head when I'm writing. In that one hour at 4:30 a.m. when I'm drinking coffee, writing, the only sound the clicking of the keys on the Chromebook, that's my fun writing time. My imagination expands and entertains me.

If you have any designs on writing stories for the marketplace, be sure to keep up the fun.

A Daily Blog?

Somehow, I stumbled into writing a blog every day. I suspect I'll break the streak someday, but I'm having too much fun. It's a good way to keep my writing chops fresh. Yes, it's not fiction, but it is still writing. And I suspect all those analytics and algorithms must see I'm publishing everyday at 6:00 a.m. and will help me along.

I've kind of broadened what I write about to include nostalgic and retro things in addition to the usual books, comics, music, movies, and such. Heck, I've even started writing about Foods From Childhood. Tell that to my past self who started that first Ben Wade story six years ago today.

Bookmark this page and follow along.

A Good Place

Writing fiction is not my day job, but the day job I have I enjoy quite a bit. The folks are nice, the work is challenging, and the constant paycheck enables me to work on this side of my life without too much stress. That's an awesome place in which to be. Who knows if, on some future Writer's New Year's Day, I will be able to report fiction writing is now the day job. It isn't 2019, and I'm perfectly fine with it.

It's been a great six years. I can assess where I've fallen short and cheered at all the things I've done reasonably well. This writing career--this second career--is constantly evolving. I keep learning new things to try and shedding things that don't work. It's a blast. Or, as Robert Lamm wrote in a song, "It's a Groove, This Life."

Tune in Tomorrow...

...for an unexpected find in a comic book store.

Online Identity or What URLs to Use

I’ve been planning out the new 2018 changes for my writing business and a question came to mind: when it comes to our online presence, are readers more likely to remember an author’s name or an author’s publishing house?
I think the answer is self-explanatory but let me tell you why I’m asking.

Currently, I maintain three websites: a blogspot one (my first and the one I’ve turned into my western pen name site); my mystery one (scottdennisparker.com), and one for my publishing company (quadrantfictionstudmio.com). It doesn’t take a whole lot of time to maintain, but I’m considering streamlining everything down to one, perhaps two sites. Ditto for my mailing lists (I have two). Longterm strategy is to convert at least one of my sites into an online store.

The majority of authors have websites keyed to their names: James Patterson, J. F. Penn, Dean Wesley Smith, Russell Blake, Mark Dawson, etc. A few, however, use a publishing house to serve at the main online presence. Kevin J. Anderson comes to mind (wordfire.com), the fellas at Sterling and Stone, and a few more. If you google “Kevin J. Anderson,” the first link is wordfire, complete with a tagline indicating it’s the office home of Anderson. When you consider ebook links are all hidden anyway, the actual URL doesn’t matter. Plus, readers are, by and large, computer savvy, so they’d be able to find a website.

But it’s our job as author to make it easier.

So, what do y’all do? Have a URL with your name or promote your publishing company? Or both?

The Role of Bloggers and Book Reviewers

Patti Abbott, at her blog, poses some interesting questions on the role of bloggers and professional reviewers. I gave my take over there. It's an interesting discussion. Check it out.

Stephen King Opens a Door...Again (cell phone stories)

Early this year, there was a report out of Japan that stated this interesting fact: half of the top 10 books published in Japan in 2007 were cell phone novels before they were paperbound novels. That spurned an idea that cell phones (and other electronic devices) were the disposable medium of the 21st century just as cheap pulp novels and magazines were to the early 20th century. Just today, on NPR's Morning Edition, was a story about comics on cell phones.

Now comes Stephen King's crack at the market. Stephen King's "N" is a animated comic story being distributed via cell phones and the web. Click the link for a preview and the first episode. One 2-minute episode will appear at that site every weekday until 29 August.

Guess you know what I'll be doing every Monday morning...

Still, this foray by a giant of the printed word into a new realm reiterates the changing nature of writing and distribution. Like Marshall McLuhan said, "The medium is the message." And, as one who is open to new things, this new King venture is exciting both as a reader and a writer. And it underscores another thing: content is (pardon me) king. Sure, folks will turn out to read something by Stephen King even if it's delivered in a new way. But the doors that Mr. King opens by means of his name is a passage that other writers, including myself, can go through. Ditto with podcasting and folks like Scott Sigler and Seth Harwood. It's just up to every author to write things that folks want to read. That is the challenge. And I, and all the other unpublished authors out there, will take up the gauntlet.

Just not for two minutes every weekday until Labor Day. I'll be busy.

Thanks Mr. King.

The Future Great Genre Writers...Who Are They Now?

While this blog has pretty much evolved into a crime fiction blog, I do still love SF. Over at SFSignal, there is a great post asking this question: Who Are the Tomorrow's Big Genre Stars? Check it out.

This, of course, brings up the question that would make it pertinent to crime fiction: Who are Tomorrow's Big Genre Stars for Crime Fiction? On my short list are folks whose books I have read or whose blogs I read regularly:

Christa Faust
Duane Swierczynski
Allan Guthrie
Charlie Huston
Megan Abbott

Who are your choices?

I have two friends, Doug Warren and Victoria Graydale, who I'd like to see on various lists of the future.

And, of course, I want my name on that list. We'll just have to see. It takes actual stories and books to make that list. Guess I'd better start producing faster...

Charles Ardai on Fresh Air

Charles Ardai, one of the two founders of Hard Case Crime, was on NPR's Fresh Air today. Here is the link. Listen how Ardai talks about noir fiction, the imprint Hard Case Crime, his own novel, Songs of Innocence, and his take on the history of crime fiction.

What's great about Ardai's two novels (Little Girl Lost and Songs of Innocence) is that his PI, John Blake, is not your typical PI. He's bespeckled, slight, a liberal arts major, and not very good at his job. He's a little like me, to be honest. I'm a liberal arts major, middle-class, doing well for myself, isolated from the bad stuff that goes down everyday...and I like reading about and I'm writing about people I'd be scared of. Weird?

My Desk and Writing Area

Over at Murderati, there is a discussion from the question: What is on your desk? Here is my response.

I have two desks--one made by my dad--and I use them in different ways. The writing desk is literally the desk I sit at to write anything long hand. There are times when pixels and a keyboard don't do it for me. I break out the pen (Pilot PreciseGrip 0.5mm, blue ink) and paper (college-ruled comp books) and compose. Yes, there are times when the ideas flow too rapidly that my handwriting is horrible. (During those times, I make notes in the margins or on yellow Post-its.) But the old-school way of writing helps the flow sometimes.

Then I have the computer desk. It's really a old server thingy--with shelves on both sides of a central post. On the closest shelf, I have it lowered to where my ergonomic keyboard sits. The other shelf I have raised so that my MacBook is almost eye level. Behind the Mac, in plain view when the Mac is closed, are my Current Books. (Right now: Money Shot by Christa Faust, Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps, Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard, By Night in Chile, Hell of a Woman (anthology), The White Trilogy (Bruen), and the book I just finished and reviewed, Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie) On the walls next to my Mac are my awards (four so far). I won an authographed photo from the band Chicago when I wrote a short story using over 70 titles of their songs. My first novel, Treason at Hanford, twice won third place at the Ft. Bend Writer's Guild contests. My second novel, Justice in H-Town won third place just last month. And I have a framed copy of my first published piece: a memorial to the journalist David Bloom, published in the Houston Chronicle in April 2003.

I use them to remind me that I have the talent to be a writer...and that only persistence will help me become a *published* author.

Female Crime Writers and Female Characters

Since my second novel, Justice in H-Town, has a female HPD detective as the main character, I'm becoming a bit more sensitive to 'woman things.' By that I mean that, well, I'm a guy and have guy thoughts. But I need to be sure to put gal thoughts in the head of my detective, Anne Chambers. My wife is a great resource as are the women (and men) in my writing group.

Over at the Behind the Black Mask, Clute and Edwards have posted the podcasts they did for Noircon 2008 in Philadelphia. I just listened to the Wise Guys and Femmes Fatales episode. C&E interviewed Megan Abbott, Vicki Hendricks, Christa Faust, and Jonathan Santlofer. Had to laugh when Jonathan mentioned that his female editor, at one point, mentioned that he did not have enough 'girl stuff' in his books. Great episode and it, and all the episodes from Noircon, are well worth a listen. Looking forward to when I'll be attending, first as a fan and then, maybe, someday, as a writer.

BTW, after finishing Guthrie's Kiss Her Goodbye, I'm currently reading Christa Faust's Money Shot (Hard Case Crime). Tune in to Behind the Black Mask in May when C&E will interview Faust. I've read the first chapter already. Holy cow! I'm already blown away.

Fantastic Podcast, Crime or Otherwise

I added a new link today: www.noircast.net. It is the one podcast (actually two) I set aside time to listen to every month. Shannon Clute and Richard Edwards are devoted fans of both film noir and crime fiction...and they have a podcast for each. Out of the Past investigates film noir, both from the glory days as well as more recent entries. Behind the Black Mask investigates crime fiction with in-depth author interviews. I have learned quite a bit about the crime field with these podcasts and this new information has shaped my writing.

If you need further proof of their importance, they were recently the official podcasters for Noircon 2008.

(Pssst. One of my goals in my professional life is to be interviewed by these guys. I just hope I have some answers to the deep questions they ask.)

Where are the short SF books?

Over at SF Signal, there was a discussion last week framed around this question: Q: Are science fiction book series a barrier to gaining new readership? Here is the extended version of the question: If you take a look around your local bookstore's SF section, you can't help but notice the preponderance of book series on the shelves, especially in the fantasy arena, which seems to specialize in doorstopper series. Inevitably, the store won't have all published books in the series, leaving the customer out of luck if they decide to buy right then. There's a great discussion including some answers from folks in the field. Go check it out.

I posted this response:

In this discussion, folks have focused on THE BIG BOOK. That is, a tome that is the size of a small brick, that a reader would have to wade through just to see if he likes it. Personally, I have not even started Jordan's Wheel of Time series for the mere fact that I'd be reading nothing else for months on end. And the more I look at bookstore shelves of SF/F, the more I see huge books.

So here's my question: what ever happened to the smaller book? The 200pp-300pp book? Is it the market that has driven smaller books away, what with $8.99+ cover prices for a paperback and north of $27.00 for a hardback?

Over in the mystery field, there's a line of books under the Hard Case Crime imprint. Those guys want to bring back old-school pulp fiction, complete with new cover art in the old style. All the books are $6.99. Almost all of them are 200-230pp long. All can be consumed quickly and carried around in my back pocket. And, for me, reading an old, formerly out-of-print book by an author like Lawrence Block or Ed McBain caused me to seek out other books by these authors.

Is there a SF/F version of this out there? I'd like to think so. And I'd like to write for and read books from an imprint like that.

Any Ideas?

SF, Fantasy, and the Sense of Wonder

Here is a quote from Russell Kirkpatrick's webpage (as linked from one of my favorite websites SF Signal):

"A generation ago we lived in a world where progress towards utopia was taken for granted. We believed technology and human ingenuity would overcome any obstacle. In this period science fiction proliferated. However, we’ve more recently had a rude awakening: people are asking ‘who benefits from all this technology?’ and are realising the wealth is not spread evenly. More, we have come to recognise the environmental damage we’ve done with our unthinking trust in technology. I believe the 1970s saw the beginning of a widespread public rejection of the ‘tech fix’, and this is mirrored by the rise of the fantasy novel, in which technology is absent or at least tightly prescribed, and the consequent decline of science fiction."


The comments by readers also is enlightening. Read on.

I have wondered about this for a few years now. I have wondered where the SF version of Harry Potter was. Where is the modern equivalent of Tom Swift? (Actually, a fellow writer is trying to fill that void now with his first novel.)

But, to continue, the sense of wonder in modern SF is, I think, missing. I may be wrong, here, and please correct me if I am. But back in the day, when Asimov, Heinlein, and others were writing about their future (our present), they envisioned flying cars, rocket ships to Mars, and other wonderous things. Well, we've lived through 2001 and I want my flying car. Moreover, I realize that I'll never see a flying car. So where did the sense of wonder go? Was it technology--inventive as it is--that killed the sense of wonder? Was it our knowledge of the limitations of technology that has driven wonder out of the realm of SF and landed it in fantasy? Is modern technology, with all its coolnesses (iPods, TV on the internet, etc.), the thing that killed the sense of wonder? Are we so jaded to realize that technology is not the end-all be-all?

I am developing a couple of SF books and stories set it two different types of universes. For one, I'm doing a dystopian future thing but with a new twist. But for the second, I aim to reclaim the sense of wonder that once existed in SF. I want to reclaim the sense of wonder John Carter felt when he transported to Mars or that any kid felt during the 1960s when they looked up at the moon and dreamed of walking on it.

What are your thoughts? Did SF kill the sense of wonder? Do we have the situation of the more we learn, the less the sense of wonder exists? How can we reclaim it?