Celebrating Independent Authors
It’s done! Yay! You wrote “The End” in your manuscript. You bask in the glow of accomplishment, of pride, of completion.
Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be? You’ve worked so hard for so long and it’s finally a done deal. Aren’t you allowed to enjoy the fruits of your labours? Haven’t you earned it? Of course you have! Continue reading “Is It Post-Book-Partum Depression?”
We humans seem to thrive on dichotomies. Descartes kick-started the mind/body dichotomy with his famous thought experiment in which he concluded ‘I think, therefore I am’.
In the last century, psychologists came up with the nature/nurture myth, and spent decades trying to work out what was more important to the development of a human being – nature, in the form of genetics, or nurture, in the form of social conditioning.
In recent years, science has busted both those myths. Human beings are neither mind, nor body, they are both, and their development depends on both their genetic heritage, and the effect of conditioning on that heritage.
Yet we, as authors, still insist on classifying our creative style as either pantster or plotter. And I have been as guilty of this as anyone. Ever since I first heard the term ‘pantster’ I’ve considered myself to be one. In fact, I couldn’t understand how anyone could sit down and outline a story from start to finish. Worse, I secretly felt that Plotters must create very predictable storylines.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.
The truth is we are both Pantsters and Plotters, or at least we should be. Continue reading “Busting the Pantster vs Plotter Myth”
When I first started out in this business I was advised never to talk about my sales numbers. I thought this was really good advice and have tried to stick with this as much as I could.
The one problem with this is that it’s hard to know where you’re at on the scale of things. Is that imporant? Well, sometimes I think it is. Looking at your ranking, comparing your books against others it can be quite motivating…but it can also be really depressing.
Out of all the groups I belong to, I share my sales numbers with one of them. We are a very close-knit unit and talk daily. We discuss everything to do with writing and publishing. I trust them and they trust me. So, in my opinion, this is a very safe place to be open about how my sales are going. Like I said, it can be motivating, encouraing and also depressing. Continue reading “Measuring Up”
When I learned to drive as a teen (yes, they had cars back then, shut up), one of the more puzzling statements in my DMV-supplied manual was: “Passing is a cooperative venture.” This didn’t make sense until I was in a situation where a guy in front of me kept speeding up to avoid my attempts to pass him. I don’t know what his problem was, maybe a little too much testosterone in the bloodstream, but that’s when I realized that the act of passing is a team sport. I have to speed up, and in a legal, safe place, he has to let me pass him. Continue reading “Do You Trust Your Readers?”