The pitfalls of having only writers as your followers / Happenings In The Outhouse 18-June-2021

There is an interesting trend I've noticed in social media, and it's not a new trend either.  It doesn't matter what business you seem to be in, those who seem to follow you are in the same business as you and seem to demand that you follow them back.  Business leaders follow other business leaders, actors follow actors, musicians follow other musicians, and so on.

I'm going to bring this to writing, since that's a business I know a bit about.  So, therefore, writers following other writers.

There is a local writer I know who self-published her debut novel last year--which is an amazing accomplishment!.  This writer is VERY active on Twitter, and I'm amazed at the over 18,000 followers.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of these followers are, much like myself, other writers.  Now, on the surface, you may wonder what the big deal is.  Here's the deal: who's buying your books?  Readers.  Readers of that particular genre.  Not necessarily writers.  Now, this is no fault of this author, because I follow a fair amount of writers myself, but you can't believe the ton of follows that I get and they demand that I follow them back.

But I don't.  Then they disappear.  Good riddance.

On a side note: I used to follow them back, until I noticed that they weren't the ones buying my books.  So I stop that in its tracks.

One of the pitfalls to this trend occurred just last week with this author.  She posted on Twitter that she was having a book signing.  Cool!  I read the Twitter thread and other authors gave her advice.  Good advice?  I'll zip my lip on that one.  Then, the day before the signing, she posted a picture of her "author" signing shirt.  It was pretty cool, and there was more advice in the thread.

But all this time I was wondering the key questions: where and when?

Of that, nothing.

Did any of the other writers ask this?

Nope.

You're right, I didn't either.  Maybe I should've, but I wanted to see if any readers would ask her.

In fact, this author didn't even say, "Hey if you're near (fill in the blank), I'll be signing my book at (date/time)."

Again, nothing.

Now, I'm a complete shit when it comes to marketing my own works too, but I at least posted a link when two of my stories was on a recent podcast and when I have a new book out I post links to it.  If I had a book signing, you better believe it that I'd be posting about it.

Be careful who you're attracting as far as followers.  For the business of writing, readers are your audience.  Go after them.  Don't follow others back if they demand it.  Readers only buy books.  Writers, not so much.

To put this in perspective, I checked out mega-bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson's Twitter numbers.  He has a little over 12,000.  Less than the local author.  And how many does he follow?  A few hundred.  Neil Gaiman?  Over 2 million followers.  How many does he follow?  Less than a thousand.  That's quite the ratio.

On a final note: she did post a picture during the author signing, but again there was no where and when.

Lesson learned?  I pray it does, and the reason for this post isn't to shame the writer.  I'm happy she was given an opportunity to have a book signing, in a real bookstore.

We all make mistakes.  We just need to learn from them.

Thinking Ahead / Happenings In The Outhouse 11-June-2021

I'm only on the sixth chapter of my latest novel and I'm already looking forward to what's next.

As you may (or may not) know, my latest project is a writing of a horror novel I wrote more than two decades ago, and is the second novel I ever completed.  I'm using the old book as an outline.  It's going great.

Beholder's Eye, which is my first full-length published book, was the fourth book I ever completed.  Between Beholder's Eye and my current project was another horror novel, set up in Lake of the Woods, in northern Minnesota.  This book actually got some interest from literary agents back in the day, but nothing came out of it.  Thank God.  Knowing what I know now about book contracts, royalties, and publishing rights, I'm sure I would've given as much away as possible with little to show for it.

Anyway, it's that book that I will be bringing to life.  And again, I'll be using the old book as an outline for the new one.

As a writer, what would you change? / Happenings In The Outhouse 4-June-2021

I recently went to the movie Cruella with my youngest daughter.  I was surprised that it was over two hours in length, as most movies run the gambit of 90 to 120 minutes.

In a nutshell, it was a fun, entertaining movie.  As we hopped in the car the drive way, my daughter asked me, "Dad, as a writer, what would you change about it?"

My, what a question!

As a writer, I do look at movies or books and ponder how I would change it if given the chance.  What do I look at in a good story?  My first threshold is the entertainment factor.  Did it entertain me?  Even some bad movies/books pass the entertainment factor.  Take the last three Star Wars movies.  I liked them, they entertained me, but I did find issues that made them pale in comparison to all of the other movies.  I also didn't care much for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (book) as Harry was always yelling, as it was loaded with exclamation marks, and that took away from the story.  But it still entertained me.

I take those things that I would change and incorporate them into my stories--and this may be an area I'll expand upon later.

Besides the entertainment factor, I look at character depth and pacing.  If both are done well, then I call it a decent movie.

Cruella had a lot of character depth, it was intriguing, and the pacing was well-executed.  I don't recall a single moment where I wondered when it would ever end.  Also, you didn't seem to require any watching of the previous movies to understand it.

My answer to her: nothing.  I wouldn't change a thing.

Proud moments #prouddad / Happenings In The Outhouse 28-May-2021

Today is a truly #prouddad moment.  My beautiful daughter, Mariah, known by many as Mo, the ginja ninja, our little ginger, and oh so many more, graduates from high school today.

To say she has accomplished much in eighteen short years is an understatement.  Not only has she maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout her entire school career, she went on to the state competition this year for speech and won 8th in the creative expression category (she probably would've gone on to state last year if it wasn't for a certain virus and the speech season was cut short), she has maintained successful employment at the local bank and is known by many who frequent it with her infectious smile and sense of humor, she has helped many of her classmates with homework over the years, is an avid golfer, is an accomplished vocalist in the high school choir, competed successfully in knowledge bowl, is on the church board as one of the youth advocates, teaches Sunday school, is an extremely talented actress in drama, and the list goes on and on and on . . .

She works hard at what she does, and has reaped the rewards of it.  This was especially shown at this year's senior awards ceremony as she took home 19 separate awards and/or scholarships.

Most of all, she has been like a rock to me and a voice of reason, especially throughout the past few years with the failing of her mother's health, eventual passing, and dealing with the daily grind of being a single dad and widow.  She will be sorely missed as she attends the University of Minnesota in the fall, majoring in biomedical engineering.

Love you, Mariah!  You have truly made me a #prouddad.

The many flavors of outlining / Happenings In The Outhouse 21-May-2021

Another short one this week as we prepare for my daughter's high school graduation next Friday.

My work-in-progress is progressing very well.  Far better than I could imagined at this point.  My last novel progressed very . . . very slowly.

But this one edged beyond the 11,000 word mark, and I'm only on the 5th chapter.

I've talked before about how much I dislike outlining in general.  Here is a link to all of my posts about outlining.  What's interesting is how much has changed over the years and whatever I'm working on.

For this project, I'm using each previously written chapter as an outline.  The plot is similar, the story is following a similar path, but the story is much, much better.

Outlining can come in a variety of packages.  I'll explore this topic more in the future.

The Grim Worlds Podcast - a new must-listen to / Happenings In The Outhouse 14-May-2021

Over the past few weeks, I've lamented the fact that I've cut back on the number of podcasts that I listen to.  Although this still remains true, once in a while I come across a podcast, a diamond in the rough, that cuts through and finds it way home to my earbuds.

Welcome to the Grim Worlds podcast.

At the time of this post, the podcast has two episodes, and you may find something familiar about the second episode--it features two stories (for the price of one, which is free) by yours truly.

The podcaster, Derek Olson, may be new to the podcast world, but its quality ranks up near the top when compared to all of the others I've listened to over the years.  This podcast, and other works he creates in the future, will be one you will want to watch out for.  Not only is he a unique voice, the music and sound effects put this in a podcast class all its own.

Be sure to subscribe and listen to this one!

Progress / Happenings In The Outhouse 7-May-2021

I am making tremendous progress on my "new" work-in-progress.

Now, I put new under quotes for a reason.  It's not a new story.  It's a story I first wrote back in college, when my late wife and I were dating.  So, yeah, well over two decades old--we were married for twenty-two and a half years before her passing.  But what's new is what I'm doing with it.

I'm using the old story as an outline.

I did this with a fantasy novel a few years ago, before moving on to another project--don't worry, I'll pick it back up again.  So far, I'm making great progress.

I know, I know, I have written about my dislike toward outlining before.  So I'm revising my thoughts toward outlining.  For me, for the most part, outlining is a waste of time.  But now, and a few times in the past, when I've hit a bit of a block, getting thoughts down on paper has helped dislodge the block.

I'm currently at the 6,300 word mark.  It'll be interesting how soon I can get this one published.

Wish me luck!