Another Blog Bites the Dust

So, I have made the difficult decision to discontinue my other blog, Publish Kestrel, since I find that I post more often here, and have generated more pageviews, etc. etc. Additionally, with my ventures into LeanPub, I have a place to post my work for profit as I continue the creative effort.
I hate to be like that, but let's be real... my dream is to be a published author, which means that not only do I want to share my stories with as many people as possible, BUT I would like to be able to support my family in the process. Writing might be fun, it might be what my world revolves around, but without the bills paid, it's just a pile of paper that will never see the light of day. Besides, with the weight of the real world off my shoulders, I can focus more on creating more and more stories to tell.
Never fear, content from over there will not be lost, and much will be transferred here. Some traffic still generates there and hopefully leads here as well, but I am just providing a different venue for sneak previews into my work before final editing and publication. I will likely still post snippets here as I work as well, so if you aren't yet ready to commit to purchasing an uncompleted work, just pop in and ask for an update!

Adventures in Self-Publishing, episode 1?

I am pretty sure I have discussed in the past the issue of self-publishing. It is no longer the realm of the vanity publishers, and there are legitimate sites that have really taken off in the last few years. Of course, the very idea of being solely responsible for absolutely everything relating to your precious book is daunting, but it does have its appeal, namely the ability to cling to it as simply YOURS, not some faceless agent, editor, or publisher who is going to take it and do god only knows what to it, and the fear is that it becomes something completely unrecognizable, right?

Well, I was poking around the NaNo site, and there are some really excellent sponsor offers available to Wrimos, both participants and winners themselves. No, really, take a look: NaNo sponsors

Obviously, once I complete my long-suffering work in progress, I would love to publish it somehow. Ideally, yes, get it on bookshelves around the world, getting a fat contract and check, and becoming fabulously wealthy! Ok, but seriously, getting it out there is the important thing to me, to feel like I have actually DONE something. So I'm looking over these offers... and I find LeanPub. Really interesting concept, it allows authors to publish their WIP's... for whoa, actual money? Hold the presses here... I have to look further.

Yes, indeed, for a 90% royalty, minus a .50 fee (did I really read that right? Yep, you did) an author can gain readership, feedback, and a check, all at the same time. It's like getting an advance on a finished novel, with the readers themselves giving you their opinions as you go along. Similar to blogging, I suppose. The author sets the price, can even donate to a cause, and can update their novel as often as they want. Of course, this comes with a limitation as to how much space can get hosted through the file sharing service utilized by LeanPub, called Dropbox, though you can earn or purchase upgrades beyond what is initially offered.

So what does the reader get out of this? Well, by purchasing a work through LeanPub, they get interaction with the author, and free updates whenever the author changes something. I think that's pretty darn neat, so what the hell, I am giving it a try with my NaNo project this year.

So the unveiling of what that project will be? Haha, surprise, it's going to be to finish my novel about Salome, which I am tentatively titling The Marchmont Falcon. (Potential to be a series, here, btw.) Since I already have a significant amount completed, I will publish what I have thus far, and update throughout November, hopefully ending with a finished book. Conclude with some SERIOUS editing, and I can take that to places like CreateSpace and Smashwords to generate a physical copy and ISBN, and provide it to as wide an audience as possible!!!! OMG, too exciting for words, but baby steps, baby steps...

So, PLEASE, if you read this, go check out my book at LeanPub, pony up the 1.99 list price (10% will go back to NaNo) and help me along on my journey to become a published author at last!!!

The Marchmont Falcon

Getting Ready for November

Did I mention what a miserable blogger I am? Oh, yeah, last post, right.
Anywho, lots happening lately, not all of it wonderful, but meaningful in its own way, and all the while leading back to where we should have been all along. It is interesting how our lives lead us around in so many different directions, only to have us end up in what was the only place it could ever, should ever have been...
Like when you are reading a book; (particularly guilty are romances in this fashion) and you totally know where the characters are supposed to be in their lives, and the whole time they are struggling against fate or destiny, or whatever you want to call it, only to end up right where you knew they needed to be after all, only at last they are happy with it? Yeah, something like that.
Yeah, so totally cryptic, ha! But that's all you'll get about personal things lately from me.
So, yes, getting ready for November. In the past, I have participated in National Novel Writing Month, and have set a new goal for this year, since as noted previously, I gave up writing for a year, and it is past time I get back on with it. NaNo has been exceedingly helpful for me when it comes to writing. My biggest struggle is against procrastination, and NaNo takes away the excuses, as well as letting you know you are not alone.
The goal of NaNo is simple. Write a novel. But to be more specific, just write. The goal is to write 50,000 words of an original fiction novel in 30 days. It is not impossible, though there are times when it feels that way if you actually attempt such a feat. I did not make the goal the first time I tried, but I hammered out the word count for two years in a row, and boy, did I feel like I had accomplished something.
Now, I didn't FINISH anything, let me set you straight on that point, but I sure did have a body of work that I can work on, by golly! But this year, this year, the goal is to FINISH a story. I put my own self on forced hiatus and cooked this story over the last year, and it needs to be done already. Then I can edit, search for an agent/publisher, or hell, might even put it up on Smashwords my darn self. Anything to get it out there. Remember, the ultimate goal is to be a published author. The ultimate DREAM would be a published author that didn't have to have a day job and could focus on writing full time!
So that is what I am up to at the moment, mapping things out this month for full time writing in November. And to make it even more fun, I am dragging my fourteen year old son along for the ride! Tee hee... It's part punishment, part effort to drag some creativity out of him... It was years before something triggered a desire to read, and his writing could use some polish. So this is perfect!
I encourage anyone who is interested to join me for NaNo this year... sign up and make me a writing buddy, my profile is cmcarr12.