Can you have self publishing success? New report gives hints

To have my novel traditionally published is the dream.  Naturally.  Who dreams of writing a novel and not having agents and publishers eager to sell their work?

Of course in these tricky economic times it is increasingly more difficult to get that agent and publishing contract.  The fact that everyone wants to be a writer doesn’t help.

So my plan B, should plan A of being traditionally published fail, was to self-publish.

I’ve done some homework on this and know some rough costs.  I have names of companies floating around in my head and marketing ideas.  At this moment in time I can’t really afford to go ahead with this and I don’t have full confidence in any of my manuscripts right now.  Maybe when the manuscripts are ready, my bank account will be too.

I think I have a good idea of what it takes to be a successful self-published writer – enough start up money to do yourself justice, a professionally edited and proofread manuscript, a professionally designed cover, a marketing plan, some good friends to spread the word and a very strong and determined will to succeed.

Today I read this article about the average earnings of self-published writers taken from a survey of 1,700 self-published authors for the Taleist website.

Apparently the majority of self-published authors do not make a lot of money.  Despite a few success stories, the majority actually make less than $500 a year.  This is very worrying as it means that many don’t break even.  How depressing.

Romance fiction is reportedly the best genre to write to become a self-published success.  Fantasy writers, I noted, do not fare well.  There is hope, however; professional help can increase the potential for earnings, as I had already discovered and assumed.  According to the survey well educated women in their 40s who write an average of just over 2,000 words a day are the most successful.

Essentially, if you do as good a job as a publisher would you are more likely to succeed.  Well, it doesn’t take a genius (or a survey) to come to that conclusion.  But then this depends on your definition of the word ‘success’.  For some this is monetary, for others just to see their name in print is success enough.

So it has all become clear.  I will continue to search for representation and go down the traditional route until I hit 40 when I will double my writing efforts from 1000 words a day and take the plunge!  On the other hand, maybe the key is to dig out all my savings, get working on my manuscripts and get them published and out into the world before other aspiring writers wake up, realise what has been going on and increase the standards of self-publishing.

Would you name your son Tyrion or Joffrey?

Great news!  Game of Thrones has been commissoned for a third series!

Apparently fans are naming their children after Game of Thrones characters.  What would you name your child?  Please note, I believe Robb (Stark), Jamie (Lannister) and Jon (Snow) is cheating...

Personally I like Tyrion, Bran, Arya and Daenerys.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18172737

Dark Shadows; another vamp flick?

On Sunday I finally saw Dark Shadows, so I apologise for the tardiness of this review.

Dark Shadows is the latest film from Tim Burton and his inner circle of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Danny Elfman.

Barnabas Collins’ (Depp) family travel to Maine from Liverpool when Barnabas is a boy.  They expand their fishing company, build the town (Collinsport) and build their own house overlooking all that they have created (Collinswood).

One of the serving women, who happens to be a witch, in Collinswood falls in love with Barnabas but her affections are not reciprocated and in anger she curses his family.  His one true love flings herself from the cliffs and, unable to live without her, he jumps after her.  He survives the fall and is turned into a vampire.  The witch (Eva Green) turns the townsfolk against him and he is buried in a box for two centuries.

He is freed in 1972 where he finds his enduring family, a replica of his one true love and that the witch, Angie, is still alive, un-aged, and is driving the Collins family business into ruin.  It is up to Barnabas to bring back his family’s honour and break the family curse.

Dark Shadows is based on a television series of which many of the cast were fans.  I have never seen this programme so cannot refer back to it in any way.

I went into the screening of this film expecting to cringe and be disappointed.  I expected the humour to be tackless and the story to be silly based on what I had seen from the trailer.  I was pleasantly surprised.

The writing is superb.  Johnny Depp doesn’t overact his character – what a ridiculous thought, why would he over act?  There is a wonderful 60/70s vibe, as you would expect, and the whole thing has been treated with a great deal of respect.

There is more violence and explicit material than I was expecting.  This film is classified as a 12A and there were children younger than 12 sat in the cinema.  Most seemed to be bored and one girl was even wandering around the seats, out of the way of people, barely glancing up at the screen.  But please be warned if you are considering taking youngsters to see this.

Happily, I enjoy a bit of violence and explicit material.  Equally happily, the man sat next to me did too.  He looked like an aged hippy, taking his daughter to see a film that would remind him of his youth.  He seemed to particularly enjoy the hippy references and I enjoyed the reek of cannabis emanating from him. 

The theme of this film is family and the close bonds between those sharing the name Collins.  Similar to The Addams Family, this gives Dark Shadows its feeling of warmth and love.

As well as being warm, it is also a funny film and it is classic Burton.  Barnabas’ dark hair, eyes and umbrella contrasting with his white skin and the ethereal beauty of the women in his life gave me that lovely familiar Burton feeling of going home.  It was wonderful, also, to see a flawless Michelle Pfeiffer after all this time and the young Chloe Grace Moretz , who shot to fame as the young Hit-girl in Kick Ass, as a moody 70s teen.

There are some great surprises throughout the film which I won’t mention as I wouldn’t want to spoil anything. 

The supernatural element throughout is beautifully done with glimpses of ghosts that left me wanting more.  It is easy to see how this could have been a television series and I did feel that some stories could have been expanded on and I would have enjoyed learning more about certain characters with the freedom that only a television series can give.

I loved this film and I watched it eagerly (although that may have been stale passive cannabis smoke).  However, the end of the film disappointed me.  It reaches a climax that had me wide eyed and smiling stupidly at the screen and then descended into Twilightesque moments of cringe.  I wonder if the television series ended in this way?

Dark Shadows is a mixture of Burton beauty, Death Becomes Her and The Addams Family and it will certainly be added to my Tim Burton collection when it is released on DVD.

Explicit and profane

Before I start this post officially I would first like to point out the similarity in this photo of Winston Churchill, nabbed from the BBC website;

 

To this picture of renowned evil vampire Herrick in Being Human!

 

It made me pause in my sandwich eating…

Anyway, the image of Winston Churchill comes from a news article on the BBC about legally insulting people.

It demonstrates the art of the insult through a few examples including Winston Churchill’s comparison of Charles de Gaulle to a ‘female llama who has been surprised in the bath’ and Shakespeare’s ‘thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows’.  Brilliant.  They put the majority of insults to shame.

This made me think about swearing in fiction (as swearing is often used when insulting).  Swearing, along with sex scenes, is something I’m not completely comfortable with when writing.  Which is strange considering I constantly swear in reality, and am fine by sex (where appropriate). 

Personally, I think my own problem stems from the way I was brought up.  Swearing is unprofessional (a definite no-no in the workplace) and I want to be a professional writer.  As for sex scenes, I’m fine until I wonder if my dad might read it…

I’ve recently started putting stronger swear words in my novels, reminding myself that I am writing for adults and therefore it is allowed.  I’ve read far worse from best selling authors. 

Then again, according to latest studies, the characters who swear in young adult fiction are the most popular, including mild swearing in the Harry Potter series which surprised me.  This has raised questions about whether books should have age ratings, which is a whole other debate.

On the other hand, my mother-in-law comments on the books she reads that are filled with profanities, claiming that while the story is good, it would be better without the constant swearing.

Essentially, swearing (and sex) in fiction is utterly subjective.  As is everything in fiction.  When writing fiction, you should write what you want to read and if you don’t mind profanities and sex in your books then hopefully your readers won’t either.

This is not an excuse to overuse the swear word.  Some swearing can make a character, or situation, more believable.  Sex and swearing, as with everything else in writing, should be used as tools.  For example, in the first series of Game of Thrones Joffrey called Arya a c***.  This was a complete shock and I vividly remember both me and my husband gasping at the sound of it.  It was the moment when you realise that Joffrey isn’t just a spoilt little prince, in one word the viewer comes to realise that there is something very wrong with Joffrey.

On the other hand, the brilliant Neil Gaiman’s Amercian Gods contains detailed sex scenes.  I read the first one with shock and actually had to put the book down to think about how I felt about such descriptive language.  On one hand, was this detail necessary?  On the other hand, it made me stop, think and look at Neil Gaiman’s name on the front.  I certainly haven’t forgotten it in a hurry and it didn’t detract from the story, rather it gave it a certain flavour.

A good rule of thumb when deciding whether to include profanity, or sex scenes, is to consider;

• Is it believable?      

I recently had to stop myself from putting a common profanity in my latest fantasy novel when I realised that a whole other world of kings and dragons wouldn’t necessarily have the same profanities as us and this was a great opportunity not to use our common swear words.

• Does it add to the story?   

Vivid, detailed descriptions of sex may add to a scene or situation or let the reader into a secret about a character.

•  Who is your target audience?  

Are you writing for young adults or adults?  How would you feel about your child reading those words?

• Does it fit into the setting? 

If you’re writing an historical story, certain swear words will not fit the tone and will put the reader off.

•  Are you comfortable using the words? 

If your own writing makes you cringe then it will make others cringe!  Only write what you feel comfortable writing and remember, there will be a lot of people out there who share your views on profanities, no matter what they are.

Any excuse to write about Buffy and Firefly

As Joss Whedon basks in the glory of Avenger success, Ben Child’s blog on The Guardian looks at possible future Whedon projects, asking where he will go from here (excluding Avengers 2, naturally).  On a small side note, check this out for possible future Avenger characters after Joss Whedon has claimed there aren’t enough strong female superheroes.

So, suddenly people know Joss Whedon’s name.  He’s become mainstream.  But that doesn’t change the fact that a lot of people have known of his existence and wonderful work for years. 

Joss Whedon is a name that makes me salivate upon hearing.  He is a superb writer and director, a master of character development and subtle humour.  Joss Whedon, in many a geek’s eyes, is a genius.

I first learned his name when I was a young teenager and Buffy the Vampire Slayer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar came to our screens.  Buffy - the story of a pretty blonde cheerleader who is followed into a dark alley by a bad man and kicks his arse - came into my life at just the right time, as I drifted into a gothic/grunge/emo phase and developed a traditional obsession with vampires (my generation’s Twilight).

To watch Buffy all the way through non-stop is to truly see the beauty behind it.  You can watch with ease the characters develop, how each one fits into the group and their changing dynamics.  

One of the best episodes, and the one that I point people to if they question Joss Whedon’s brilliance, is the one where Buffy’s mum, Joyce, dies (The Body).  Buffy walks in to find her mother dead on the sofa.  It is a heart wrenching look at something tragic and completely steeped in reality – not a vampire or demon in sight.  We see the human side of Buffy, the vulnerable side.  All of her training, all of the death and blood and gore she has witnessed cannot protect her from losing her mother.  And now she has to take responsibility for her younger sister, Dawn.  Just as she’s trying to figure out what few other slayers have had to – how to be a vampire slayer and live an adult life, now she has to pay the bills and make sure Dawn goes to school.  Now she has to be a mother.

My other favourite Buffy episode is the final one (Chosen).  I actually felt the empowering urge as all potential slayers in the world were woken, and I still do when I watch it.  I also felt the release from Buffy.  Eight seasons of the girl carrying the world on her shoulders, getting heavier every season and finally she is free.  For this reason, there could not be a new Buffy movie.  If future generations want to learn of Buffy, they can watch the original television series.

It was in university that I was introduced to Serenity during its UK release to cinema.  I saw it, I fell in love and I listened to the crowds leaving the cinema proclaiming that ‘Joss Whedon has done it again’.  I immediately purchased Firefly and watched it repeatedly.

Looking at Ben Child’s list, the entry that made my heart skip was Serenity 2 and 3.  Serenity is the film of the television series Firefly, a sci-fi/western following Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his misshapen crew as they honourably thief and con their way through the 'verse.  A trilogy of Mal and the Firefly crew would be epic.  Some have commented that this would be useless without Wash but during the television programme of Firefly, Wash and Zoe talked of having a baby.  Who is say that Zoe was not already pregnant when Wash was killed?

As another commenter pointed out – Nathan Fillion needs to become a household name.  He is an amazing actor and an amazing presence.  We need to see more of him, as any avid watcher of Castle, or fan of Firefly/Serenity, will tell you.

On a side note, I follow a few celebrities on Twitter and Nathan Fillion is by far the most entertaining.  He is the man everyone wants as their best friend, but I will be content with having him on the big and small screen more often.

While the Serenity sequels would almost make life complete, I would love to see the series Firefly return.  So much more could be done with the television series rather than a film, each character could be developed individually and wonderful (short) adventures could be had.  The original cast would have to return and it would have to be on another network (not Fox who played the episodes in the wrong order!) and maybe Alan Tudyk could return and bring our beloved Wash back to life.  Essentially, could Firefly carry on where it left off?  I think the fans would forgive any sequence errors to get Firefly back where it should be – long running, on our television screens and in Sheldon and Leonard’s roommate agreement...

Update and trains

I realise that this blog has not been about my writing recently.  This doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing, there just isn’t anything to report.

I’ve finished the first draft of my third novel which I am currently editing.  At the same time, I’m writing a short story for a competition and my mind is filled with problem solving for Silver.  It has occurred to me that the structure could be greatly improved, that perhaps the chapters are too long and the whole thing needs shaking up.  I will start to write the sequel next week so I’m also planning for that.  Not to mention thinking about a few other little projects I have up my sleeve.

All of that, mixed with a full time job and a sudden social life – cinema twice in one week, we went to see Rhod Gilbert last week, a Saturday night of geeky fun and seeing Dara O'Briain tomorrow and off to the theatre on Friday!  Not to mention I need to find the time to see Dark Shadows (released last Friday).  I don’t have to, but I need to.

So I apologise for the lack of intriguing, fascinating blog posts over the weekend and today.  In the meantime, this made me smile;

Stephen Preddy (writer of Green Wing) and Tony Robinson have joined forces to bring a little lightness to those travelling from Birmingham to London.  Announcements have been written by Preddy and Robinson has helped the staff learn their lines.  The announcements, which can also be heard at London’s Marylebone Station, include;

• "I'd like to welcome passengers boarding this 7.33 from Birmingham Moor Street to London Marylebone. If you've just bumped into someone who you barely know, you now have one hour and 30 minutes of awkward small talk. Good luck."
• "For any passengers who've not visited London before, do please prepare yourselves for the capital's overwhelmingly calm and relaxing pace of life."
• "We will shortly be passing through West Ruislip where we will be racing the Underground trains. Do please feel free to cheer for our driver."
• "Will any passengers listening to noisy iPods please get a better taste in music. Thank you."

Wonderful!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18050473