Starting Creative Writing 3 of 6

Making shed loads of money.

Is your writing Commercial and what can you do to make it so?

Fiction writers

Have an original and exciting idea. Study what is out there in your chosen genre.
Draft it and see if you think it will work and stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Redraft loads of times correcting content and grammar. Edit to the bone. This will take ages. In my case months. Get your book professionally edited when it is already at a high standard.
Write in an interesting style i.e. Use your own unique voice in your writing and don’t change it.
You need good computer skills and constantly update them in order to prepare your manuscript publication.
Discover social media for marketing and be prepared to do up to two hours a day working on it.
Understanding relatives, willing to put up with your absence in order for you to follow your dream.The reality is that you will make more money going to work, at least for a few years. To begin with, it is a loss maker and ‘may always be’ so remain sober with your dreams.
You need understanding friends who might get fed up with hearing about your writing and may think that to write you to at least should have a best selling book when you start out. The fact that you haven’t might frustrate you and your friends.
When you start to think about giving up work to write and you have no evidence to suggest you can do this, then recognise you are dreaming, It is OK we all need dreams for the future but you can’t eat them.
When you have a wonderful, well edited book with a brilliant cover (you probably paid a few hundred pounds for), great blurb on the back you need LUCK and plenty of it.
Start writing your next book and be prepared to wait a year or two before seeing any results from the time you started writing. It’s called patience.

This is the way you stand an outside chance of making shed loads of money. In the mean time, enjoy writing, enjoy learning, enjoy making writing friends. I wish you ‘Good Luck’.

This blog is intended as food for thought for those starting out. If you want to ask questions do, and if you are an experienced writer and would like to add to what I’ve written I’d be pleased to have your comments and make this blog useful for writers starting out.

ebook trialing your book is a good way to start before printing a paperback. This still requires computer skills. Take a look at Createspace.

Fact is different. Presumably you know who your readers will be. Write for them and not for yourself. Edit, edit, edit. Know how you are going to market it and how long its shelf life might be.

When it comes to marketing I have found the books of Gisela Hausemann useful. Look her up on Amazon and she has a Facebook page. There are lots of books and articles on Google to help you on your way. Any links, please add.

Please add your comments and let others know how you have found the writing experience, and please don’t put up a book with typos, poor grammar and a useless idea as this makes it difficult for great writers to be found.

Next week The pleasure of making up stories.

th-2 — Hope your writing adds cash to your bank account.

Continue reading “Starting Creative Writing 3 of 6” →

The Indie Book Revolution

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I recently wrote a reply to an Indie author bemoaning on Facebook they weren’t making sales on line. I think my reply is worth sharing.

There are 1.5 million Indie books published in the US alone, every year. I wondered how many of these authors buy Indie books?

I buy 2 a month as that fills my reading time. Mostly I find them lively and interesting, the occasional one, not so. No different from a traditionally published highly advertised book, they are not always great even if the grammar is pretty much guaranteed. To be a successful Indie author you have to be better than the best, even then you might not make it. It’s like agents who have turned down amazing works of literature many times over but they have gone on to be best selling novels, the reading public are doing the same thing, turning away from amazing possibilities. Don’t miss out on discovering a book that might be brilliant; buy loads of Indie books. How many agents turned down Beatrix Potter and J. K .Rowling etc. As an Indie author your experience may be like theirs and you have to keep marketing – and waiting, and hoping readers will cotton on to your amazing book.

In the meantime why not buy a few Indie books and enjoy the whole reading writing scene?

As a Creative Writing tutor I have read across genre, often reading genres I would not have freely chosen. Sometimes they have surprised me at how much I have enjoyed reading them, sometimes I have found them awkward and uninteresting. I am never sorry to have read them. The bad ones teach me how not to write a book and I think about the author who has embarked on a learning curve and , on day, they might become a great writer. Everyone starts somewhere.

From a writer’s perspective reaching the top rung of success can be an unrealistic goal. If you play tennis are you going to be a Wimbledon champion? Would you give up singing if you weren’t the winner of X Factor? You can enjoy playing tennis and singing at any level – you can enjoy writing at any level.

Make friends and meet people on line and through organisations; enjoy working on language skills, going to literary festivals etc. There is so much more to do when you are interested in writing than become famous. Even listening to related programmes on radio or analysing something you are watching on T.V. I would recommend a writer’s life to anyone.

Why do people ask, ‘Do you write? What have you published?’ Would we ask, ‘Do you play tennis? What tournaments have you won? If a writer is successful they will tell you without being asked!

It’s all about money for some potential authors. If that’s you and you’re starting out, make sure you have a good day job.

I have made a living out of writing. I started out earlier than most and this was a big advantage. From selling articles and poems to major magazines my writing career developed. I went into education and taught other people to write, I wrote Creative Writing examinations and marked them. This gave people a qualification that was recognised in a subject they enjoyed and I loved teaching. Splitting the subject into communications and media studies at level 3 meant that adult students could use it for university entrance.

The aspect of my career I enjoyed the most was Creative Writing for rehab of mental health patients, for prisoners, and as a stepping stone for homeless people back into education.

Over the past few years I have been teaching Creative Writing in Sri Lanka (for free), a work/vacation. I’m lucky that writing has added so much to life, and I believe in can for others. Don’t be a lone writer, get out there and join in things.

What I really have written this blog for, is to say to indie authors – buy indie books. If we all did this we could start an indie revolution.

As I sit looking at my cup of coffee I realise that for half the price of that coffee I can download an Indie book. For the whole cup – thats 2 books (I’m sure you worked that out). So what if I don’t enjoy them all? I will certainly enjoy most. Of all my reading this year one indie book stood out and I will always remember it. I bought it because I met the author at one of these social writing events and bought the paperback. Indie books can be better than the best.

My husband has met people at these indie events when he has tagged along with me. Occasionally he smiles at the daft book, but it made him smile and other times he has raved on about how good a book is. Because it’s indie he has been able to read their blog, join their twitter etc. and he has spoken to the author and might meet them again.

I write reviews when I’ve read a book, but if it is not my usual genre I say so, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a good review . If it really is bad then I don’t say anything. I’m sure a poor writer is capable of giving back what they get. When I do write a poor review it is for a highly publicised book and the story genuinely isn’t good. I hate reading a traditional published book with the might of the media behind it and it could – no should be better. You can forgive indie books but not professional writers. Readers have often agreed with my review and said so. If I love it I do always say so, or if it’s good but not my type of book it may be worth 5*.

Christmas is coming and I’ve order my presents – I want paperback Indie books and they will cost under £10 They will give me several hours of pleasure when Christmas is over. ‘Which indie book,’ I’m asked. My reply, ‘Surprise me. You know me.’

I belong to BGS. If you are looking for an indie book join this site or something similar.

See what other people are reading. Goodreads has indie books with reviews.

Be bold and make an Indie book a regular addition to a book club reading list. My Romantic Comedy is only 99p 5* reviews around the world. http://tinyurl.com/jd6bn9a

In Praise of The Indie Experience

I became an Indie author to publish and sell my book. I have done both, but there is so much more.

Making friends and meeting people is top of the list. Online through twitter, @brendah Sedgwick, through this blog, and through goodreads and facebook. Then there are the talks and people you meet anywhere anywhen.”Yes, I’ve written a book – how about you? Do you enjoy reading or writing?”

The originality and variety of indie books exceeds that of celebrity books and well known authors. It takes a few extra minutes to find something you are interested in.

There many nonfiction indie books with information that is easily accessed by everybody. These books can be for small niche markets and important. Only available because of indie publishing.

Some indie books lack good grammar and need more spelling checks. Indie authors don’t have an army working for them. It’s the story that counts for me; the pictures painted with words in them. It’s like a song well written but lacking life or a song full of life but with faults.

A whole room of people can write a professional blurb. An indie blurb will be written by one or two inexperienced people.

Give me an indie book and suprise me.

The covers have beautiful art work. Through indie books, covers have become the opportunity for more artists to show their amazing talents Remember the record sleeves that were works of art and have a monetry value in themselves? Can this happen to book covers?. Limited editions?

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Will there be shops that sell only indie books that become a hub of activity with downloading facilities and book clubs only for self published authors,. Could they be more fun than the conventional reading groups?

There is a new dawn for Indie books yet to be seen. How many great books never made it past the agent’s desk? We know about Beatrice Potter and Lord of the Flies , by William Golding, etc that only just made it. How many great stories went in the bin we will never know. Indie books may not be perfect, but there are more good ones ones that will make it through to popularity by the indie route, and will be around for future generations.

Another reason for not getting across the agent’s desk is age. It takes a lot of money and time to promote someone and they want lots of books and a long future. Older people can write amazing books that are a good read for all ages and in all genres..

Recently I have read writers who have a mainstream published series to their name, and the authors are coming up to middle age. Unfortunately, I have found them lacking in story content after the first one or two. Some indie book stories I have found to have originality and to be buzzing with life.Books that will stay in my memory.

For the value of indie books and writers to be appreciated readers must be willing to experiment, and accept that some books don’t make the mark anymore than mainstream books do.

You can meet your author on twitter,on websites, through blogging and on Facebook pages. There’s an author’s page for books on Goodreads and about the author on Amazon. So much background to be discovered before and after you read the book. You can even ask an author questions.

It’s no longer about a book or an indie book, but it comes with information that makes the reading experience more interesting.

Book clubs could, perhaps should, have an indie night now and again, when they read different genres in indie publishing and find out what the overall response is.

If you can’t read a book where you think a comma is wrong, then stick to the mainstream published books or try to write one that is perfect in every way.