Deep in Edit Hell

First off, Blogger hasn't been emailing me every time I get comments, like it's supposed to.  If your comment doesn't show up right away, you have my apologies.  I'll try to remember to check the comment thingy more often.  

Now, on to what I had originally thought about posting today...

Editing is exhausting.  This edit in particular is sucking the energy right out of me.  I've already done 13.5 pages of notes and entered them into the manuscript.  And I'm on page 121 out of 189.

What I do in this phase is read through the book on my Kindle and make notes on every little thing I catch (because all the big things should've been handled in the last edit phase).  When I get a page of notes, I come in here and fix them.  Making a page of notes can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on how many flaws I find.  Fixing those errors can also take 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how extensive the problem was.

The problems here range from commas to typos, extra words and missing words... 'I thought I caught all the instances where Precious was called Pinky, dammit'...  Gus' turned into Gus's... crutch words and rewording...  Sometimes I read a paragraph and every freakin' sentence needs an adjustment, leaving me wondering what the hell I was thinking when I wrote it.  Either my brain was on vacation or my fingers had a mind of their own that day. 

I had hoped to have this finished and into the hands of proofers by the end of this week.  It's Friday, so I'm guessing that ain't gonna happen.  

I hope you'll all maintain your patience with me. I'm tired and I want to just chuck the rest of the edits and say 'eh, it's good enough'.  But I won't do that.  It wouldn't be fair to you or fair to the book.  So I'll keep slogging along, mainlining coffee and cigarettes, until this is done.

But I'm tellin' ya, once this is off to the proofers, I'm taking a day off and going fishing.  Blerg.

The Rest of 2019 is a Wash

In case you missed it on yesterday's post at The Writing Spectacle, I talked about giving up on writing for the rest of the year.  And giving up on talking about writing.  And how it will probably mean a loss of posts here at Outside the Box.    If you stop by here on regularly scheduled posting days and there isn't anything new, I hope you'll stop over at The Writing Spectacle.  The posts there won't necessarily be writerly, of course.  I talk about all sorts of stuff over there.

I'm doing this because, right now, I'm not writing and everything I have to say about writing is depressing.  Plus, I think that talking about writing, or lack thereof, is actually not doing me any good as far as writing goes. 

Don't worry.  I am not quitting writing or this blog.  I'm merely taking a break.  Or as Hubs is fond of saying, "When you're lost in the woods, just stop."  It's a time to get my bearings without further thrashing around getting more lost.

Maybe it's like trying to coax a rabbit out of hiding.  The more noise you make and the more you try, the more it will shrink away from you.  But, if you sit very still, it may come out of its hole.  :shrug:  It's a theory.

Anyway, thanks for following this blog.  I hope you'll continue to do so in the coming year.  I'm not entirely sure there won't be any posts here between now and then, but I wanted to give you a heads-up that the regular schedule won't be regular.

The Tiring Marketing Part

Now I know why some people pay other people to do their marketing.  It's a tiring process.  Tweet, post, chat, blog, respond, comment, submit, lather, rinse, repeat.

But it's necessary.  Because when you stop - even for a day - sales trail off.

I took the weekend off.  I just couldn't bring myself to say another word about anything related to my books.  (Yes, I still tweeted because it takes like 5 seconds - but my tweets were lame because my heart wasn't in it.)

And yes, I realize that if you're following me closely, you may have seen the same sort of tweet, nestled in between witty repartee and interesting information, several times.  Those repetitious tweets aren't for you.  They're for the people who may only read a tweet from me every once in a while.  And for new people.  Do me a favor and ignore them.  I promise not to tweet only about buying my books, but understand those sales tweets have to be sprinkled in there along the way.  Otherwise, B.E. don't sell no books, and no sales means I'll have a harder time publishing more books down the road.  (The well of fundage is not infinite.  It's finite.  Very very finite.)

I want to keep doing this.  I love doing this - even the tiring marketing part.  I have books already lined up and more books coming.  Basically, I want to still be writing and publishing my books when I drop over.  In order to do that, I have to sell books, and in order to sell books, I have to market them.  So, be patient with the commercials.  You never know when one of them is actually telling you something you want to know - like a new widget is out or there's a sale on your favorite widgets, or whatever.  And like I said, I'll try to sprinkle them in with things that are actually enjoyable, interesting, educating, or witty. 

Thanks again for your support.  You rock.

(And no, this post wasn't for my staunch supporters who know me well, but rather for those who don't and might choose to stop following me because they feel like all they're seeing are ads.)

Changes

Hey Everybody!

You may have noticed the blog has a new name and a new header.  I wanted a more professional look and a more professional introduction for new visitors.  (You guys already know how professional I am.  Quit laughing.  I'm serious.  Okay, well, maybe not entirely serious, but I am trying to find some modicum of professionalism here.)

So, Outside the Box.  I came up with the name and did the header, then I showed Hubs who promptly said he follows a firm who's newsletter is called 'Outside the Box'. :shrug:  Since they aren't novelists, I'm cool with that.

If you've been following along, you already heard the story of the rat in the rice paper maze.  If not, it goes something like this.  Once there was a lab rat who ran the same maze every day to get to his food.  But the maze was made of rice paper and if the rat had only realized how flimsy his maze was, he could've ripped through the walls and reached his goal so much quicker.  I did debate on naming the blog "Breaking through the Maze", but then I'd have to explain the story over and over again.  Instead, I took a more known form of the basic moral to the story.  The box holds us back, so I broke down the cardboard.  I'm living live outside the box now.

Basically, I've gone rogue.  I'm done with traditional publishing and, as hard as it may be, I'm doing all this myself.  Yay!  Go me! 

And they can take that box and shove it.  Yeah, yeah, someday someone from traditional publishing may hunt me down and make me an offer.  I'll deal with that if it ever happens.  (I'm not holding my breath because blue isn't a good look for facial color.) 

Anyway, here I am.  Out of the box and happy.  At last.

I have some other things coming up.  Not so much changes, but additional steps in the direction I've been trying to take all these years.  Book 2 is well on its way to a release date.  (Official announcement in my newsletter on May 1st, so if you want to know ahead of everyone else, sign up.)  I'll be paying the new cover artist for my third book today - and his work is freakin' amazing. (Also being announced in the newsletter.)

Accidental Death will be be on Omnimystery News with a cover release on May 8th and a book excerpt on May 15th - so if you aren't following their blog, you should think about that. 

I can't think of anything else right now, but if anything else comes up, I'll let you know. 

As always, thanks for stopping by.  Bring a friend next time.  We'll party.  (And by party, I mean non-alcoholic drinks and ultra-fattening desserts.)

:hugs:

-B.E.

Marketing Monday

Since marketing seems to be the hardest hurdle for writers to leap, I thought I'd continue with the theme of the past Monday and talk a little about marketing again.  (And please note, I'm still too new at this to know if any of it will actually help me gain sales.  I've heard it can, but I have no data to back that up.)

First things first - making the book free.  Here's an excellent article from Elizabeth Spann Craig on the subject: The Impact of Free Promos.  Based on what I'd already read on the subject, I had planned on making Dying Embers free.  Hell, that was half the reason I signed the book up for Kindle Select - because the Select program let's you set the book for free for 5 days over the course of your 90 day period (in a row or one at a time or whatever).  I'd read that setting your book to free can help increase sales.  (I know, it sound anti-intuitive, but if other writers are selling books and doing this, what can it hurt to try.) 

To that end, Dying Embers is free for today only - 12:00am 3/2 thru 11:59 3/2 - so if you haven't got a copy of your very own yet, go get one.  Read it.  Review it if you're so inclined.

Which leads me to reviews.  Having them helps sales.  And as of this posting, I have 4 awesome reviews over Amazon and Goodreads.  I didn't solicit them - and I will never pay for them.  That's not cool. 

Which leads me to another marketing thing I have going on tomorrow - Kboards.  They have something like 80,000 subscribers and for a mere $15 they're running my book on what's called their 'Book Discovery Days' promo.  It'll be there along with other books, of course, but for that price, I couldn't pass it up.  That'll be up at 4pm Pacific tomorrow.  (After free day is over - unless Amazon screws something up and makes my 'day' longer.)

But don't let me forget what I have going on today!  A friend of mine messaged me the other day asking if I'd like to guest blog - pimp my book, etc.  I wrote a post and sent it over.  So today, I'm guest blogging at the homeplace of Laura Bickle - writer of awesomeness for adult and YA markets.  I've stalked... err, followed Laura ever since I read her urban fantasy Embers years ago.  And we became friends.  Now, I'm not advocating going out and making friends so that they'll pimp your books for you.  I am advocating going out and making friends the natural way, and one hopes that they'll like you enough to offer to pimp your books.  But I've been slowly making friends since I started this blogging thing in 2006 before I ever dreamed of being brave enough to self-publish, so your mileage may vary.

Anyway, like I said, I'm not sure how effective all this marketing will be, but as of this morning, around 40 people have a copy of my book.  That's 10 more people than yesterday and the day is early.  And if only a fraction of those people review it or chat it up or want a hardcopy of the book for their very own, it'll be worth it.  I think.  Maybe. 

Time will tell.  And I will share as much as I can along the way. 

Blog Suggestions?

I know this is supposed to be Wicked Wednesday, but frankly, even though they're interesting, finding and posting about serial killers is bumming me out.  I write about killers, but there's always the counterpoint of the hero to keep me balanced.  So these last couple weeks when I didn't have to post about the wicked really felt great. 

Maybe I should balance them by talking about famous law enforcement officials every other week.  Unfortunately, you don't seem to hear as much about the people who were instrumental in catching the criminals as you do about the sick freaks themselves.  It might entail a lot of research.  I don't know.

So, I'll put it to you.  What do you want to see here?  What are some things that bring you to a blog and keep you coming back?  Do you enjoy the Wicked Wednesday serial killer information?  Cuz I'll do it if you guys really like it. 

Additionally, what makes you comment on a blog?  I know I have my core followers... :waves: ...but I'd like to see some more people joining in the conversation. 

Anyway, I'm trying to keep this blog rolling by being interesting and fun - but I'm not always sure how to do that. Your input would be greatly appreciated.

In other news, I got the cover art samples yesterday!  I have three favorites that still need to be tweaked, but they're on track for what I envision would be an attention-grabbing cover - and still convey the meat of the book.  So, I'll be sending the artist my take on the three and seeing what he can do with that.  I'll post cover art when I get something firm. 

It's a Contest!

First, thank you all for being here!

Second, here's the dealy-bob.  Since I'm making my foray into self-publishing after the start of 2015, I'd like you all to be following me when the event happens, so you get the most updated information the fastest.  So, to that end, I'm having a contest.  The prize for this contest is a kringle from O & H Danish Bakery in Racine, WI.  What's a kringle, you say?  Well, since I'm launching the book currently known as Dying Embers first, I'll let this unedited snippet from it explain:

Dawn was breaking over Lake Michigan by the time they reached Racine.  Still too early to make any headway with their investigation, the two weary travelers rented a car and trolled the city looking for the first real meal either of them had eaten in almost twenty-four hours.

“An associate sent me the best pastry I ever ate, and if I remember correctly, it was made here in Racine.  Look for any place advertising something called a kringle.”

Ben cast a sideways glance at her.  “As in Kris?  This isn’t one of those Christmas towns is it?”

She laughed, and she liked the sound.  The last man who’d made her laugh that hard…  Well, she couldn’t remember one, it’d been so long.  “Not as far as I know.  It’s some kind of Danish delicacy.  Just trust me, and keep your eyes peeled.”

Not another block went by before he pulled the car into a parking space along the road.  “Mademoiselle asks and she receives.”  He pointed one well muscled hand toward the sign above them.

“Perfect.  You won’t regret this.”

“We’ll see about that.”

After sitting down with a couple large slices of the buttery, gooey treat, they ate in companionable silence punctuated only by the groan from them both when they finished too soon.

“Well?”

“You were right.  Those things are incredible.”  He patted his stomach.  “Good thing I don’t live around here.  I’d ruin my girlish figure.”

She couldn’t imagine him ever having a girlish figure.  Not exactly the expanding waistlines of many men his age, he still had enough meat on his bones to keep from blowing away in the wind.  Broad and well-proportioned was more like it, and exactly what Jace would’ve enjoyed getting to know, if this wasn’t business.

And here's a picture of what I consider a slice of heaven, if you need more encouragement:

So, for your opportunity to eat like Jace and Ben, all you have to do is follow this blog.  Here's how it'll go down:

1) If you followed this blog before I woke up the morning this posted (follow early, follow often), you already have two entries.
2) If you also followed The Writing Spectacle before this post went live, you have another two entries.
3) Anyone who follows this blog from this point until the end of the contest, gets another entry.
4) Anyone who follows The Writing Spectacle from this point until the end of the contest, gets another entry.
5) If you comment on this blog post, you get an additional two entries. (For those people who don't use Blogger, comment here and then go ahead and 'follow' anyway.  Even if you never see it through Blogger, it can't hurt anything.)
6) Look for an additional chance to gain entries sometime between now and the end of the contest.
7) The contest ends when I get online in the morning on December 1st, 2014.  Anyone who is following my blog at that time gets to be in this contest, and will have an advantage over new followers in the next contest.  (Dates and prizes for that to be determined - depending on how this contest goes.)

Easy, right?  Cool.  Get following.

And stay tuned because I'll be doing other cool things (I hope - I'm tragically un-cool) in the weeks and months to come.

Thanks again for stopping by.  I look forward to seeing you around.

I am not affiliated with O & H Danish Bakery in any way, so don't bug those folks about this contest.  They won't have a clue. They have no idea who I am and I've never even been to Racine, WI.  I just love kringles and the best ones I ever ate came from this place. Like Jace, I used to have an associate who would send these out.  I really miss doing business with those people.

The kringle prize is available to continental U.S. residents only.  (I can't afford the extra shipping on these suckers yet.  Maybe after I sell some books.) And you should probably have a non-P.O. Box address - because these glorious circles of goodness need to stay fresh and who knows how often you check your P.O. Box.  If you only have a P.O. Box, we'll work something out.

If your name is drawn and you're not in the continental U.S., I'll find an alternate prize - like a gift card or something - to award you.  We'll work it out somehow so you get a prize and I don't have to break the piggy-bank open.