Distractions

Probably not a good sign that after writing a post about how I balance writing with kids, I have not been able to write a single word since. 

Kids, vacations, house projects, the like. No excuses. I need to try to write every day. 

Another reason for my writing distractions, I’ve been working hard to promote my book. I don’t want be spammy and constantly post/tweet/shout about my book, so I’ve been trying to get involved with writing communities (forums, writer groups, etc). This is nice and all, but very time consuming when my time to write is such a slender portion of my day (if at all). I love hearing and learning from other aspiring and working authors. I like reading their work and getting feedback on mine. But finding the balance between being a self-promoter, a community member, a writer, and a work-a-day schmuck gets a bit dicey.

I have no answers in this post. I just figured I should explain my absence. On the sales front, the book is doing okay. No where near as good as during the free promo, but steady. Reviews have been nice (though only a few so far). And I’m making good progress on Part 3 of Mesh. Should be done with this last draft next month. So I’ve go that going for me…which is nice.

Now I need go do some serious writing– writing the checks to pay the mortgage and utilities.

Advertisement

Writing with Kids

People keep asking me how I was able to write a book (non-writing people), and how I had time with a job and two kids. The answer is “I don’t know.” There was a time where I could write a 120 page screenplay in two days, with a revision. It took me several years to write the first three parts to Mesh due to many reasons: work, lack of inspiration, bogged down in research, planning a wedding, getting another degree, getting a fixer upper house, kid #1 and kid #2.  

These last two were by far the most rewarding and time consuming. It’s not just that you can’t write while playing dinosaur or changing diapers. When you do have time to write, you’re too exhausted to do so. 

My solution was not to try to write perfectly. If I had 30 minutes, write a paragraph, just to move the story along. I can always revise. And also, to set aside child-less time that was dedicated only to writing (this meant out of the house so I wasn’t tempted to hammer or paint something). As a teacher, this was a  bit easier, since I could write after school before picking the boys up from daycare (usually an hour), and that usually gave me at least one day during vacation weeks to write. Still, the beauty that is matching up free writing time with a peak inspiration time was near impossible. When I had ideas, I had no time to write. When I had time, I had no ideas/energy. 

Writing with two energetic, rarely napping/sleeping boys, means acknowledging that it will take me a lot longer to write my story (like years longer) than before. And realizing that when I do have free time, I need to spend it writing, not watching TV, going to the movies, playing video games, taking a nap.  I cut out all recreational things. 

I would still like to get better at this. I have nine more parts of Mesh to write, an eight part Middle Grade series to write, and a seven part YA (I think is series for whatever reason). I plan to get to all this, after I spend a few more hours in the sandbox, pushing a swing, or playing play-doh. 

Low Expectations

Not sure where I expected the novel to go after the free promo. Going somewhere would help. It doesn’t help that people I count on for a solid review (wife, family) are filtered out by Amazon.

I guess I understand that practice to some degree, though it does seem a bit arbitrary to think that my family and friends can’t give sincere opinions on the book.

Anyhow, now I’m stuck a bit. I could start soliciting reviews from bloggers, etc, but since this is only the first part, I’m thinking I should wait until I release a couple more, or at least until I get some unbiased opinions on the book.

One bright spot, with few sales, I’ve broken my addiction to the Kindle report page. Now I can actually do some laundry and mow the lawn. Yay.

Promo Aftermath

The free promo for Mesh: The Pioneers is over and I would say it was a success. When I decided to do KDP Select (which runs 90 days), I had low expectations of 250 downloads. Realistic ones of 500, and high hopes for 1000. In 72 hours, the book was dl’ed 408 times. 

Now, I need to be patient for some reviews (hopefully good ones) and maybe a few paid downloads. I’ve had 6 paid dl’s so far. Now if I did the nook, smashwords, Apple, wattpad, would it have been more or less successful? Hmm.

So far so good

Passed the 200 mark in downloads. Got to be a good sign since I don’t know 200 people. Download while it’s still free. Mesh: The Pioneers. 

Free Promo

Mesh is available for free over on amazon. Check it out if you can. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYV3H34

And sorry to get a bit spammy for the next few days, but I want to make sure I get the word out.

Mesh is available early!

So Amazon was more efficient than expected and “Mesh: The Pioneers” is already available. It’s $2.99 now and the free period for the book is still Sunday through Tuesday.

Please repost, retweet, shout out the link: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYV3H34

For those that need some guidance, you will need a Kindle or free Kindle App to view the book.

The “Free Sample” is not the same thing. This is just a twenty page teaser of the book, not the full thing.

If you go to the app and go to the “Shop Kindle Store” (usually the upper right corner), you can type in my name or Mesh and my last name. And buy it for “$2.99” today or “0.00” tomorrow through Tuesday.

If you have to Kindle, you should be able to get it in the store or from the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

And, if you like it, please leave a review. Thanks.

Support Your Local Writer

For those of you who are interested in supporting my self-publishing attempt, there are several ways you can help.

1) Share, re-post, retweet, semaphore, messenger pigeon, anything. Tell anyone you might think would be interested in it (it’s a sci-fi story).

2) Download it FOR FREE between Sunday and Tuesday. How does downloading it for free help? It boosts the book’s ranking on Amazon which will then attracts a wider audience. So even if you don’t want to read it, download it for free and forget about it. It will still help.

3) Kindle Owners (people with a physical Kindle, not just the Kindle app), borrow the book from the Kindle Owners Lending Library. How does a free library borrow help? Amazon pays authors about $2.00 every time their book is borrowed (each Kindle owner only counts once however). 

4) Review it! If you read the story and like it, write a review on Amazon. This also attracts a wider audience. 

5) If you read it and don’t like it…shhh. Pretend it never happened. 

6) And if you really feel inclined. You can buy it after the free period. It’s $2.99. 

Thank you for your support.