Dovetailing off of last week's post (if you haven't read it, here's a link to it), last weekend was the premiere of the Netflix movie The Dirt, based on the life of the heavy metal band Motley Crue. One scene in particular made me think about the post and if one is ready for success.
To paraphrase the scene in particular, Nikki Sixx (bassist for the iconic band) was talking with a record executive about the rights to their music. The executive said something like, "Not even the Beatles own the rights to their music." Nikki replied that they should. And so should Motley Crue.
I won't spoil the ending, but this made me think very hard about the rights to my own writing. As well as your own writing/art. If you're not ready for success, you may make stupid decisions and sign away all of your rights--not a good thing!
What I would do, to prepare yourself for success, is to read all you can about the business side. I know, I know, your art is just that. Art. Well, if you want someone to take advantage of you and steal what may potentially be tons of money from your pocket, ignore this advice. But if you want to be smart, learn what you can about the industry.
Kristine Rusch publishes a ton about contracts and rights--this is primarily for the book publishing industry, but much of her posts are applicable to other industries as well. Here is a link to her posts, which I highly suggest to read.
Friday, March 29, 2019
Friday, March 22, 2019
Are you ready for success? / Happenings In The Outhouse 22-March-2019
As the first quarter of 2019 winds down and the weather starts to get warmer here in northwestern Minnesota, I'm reflecting on my writing goals for the year.
First, I am currently around the 25,000 word mark on my epic fantasy and I'm quite a distance away from completing the first part--there are four parts to the book; the original plan was to write one part per quarter. That may not happen now. I'm still writing everyday but the story is taking longer to tell. Not a bad thing. The story will get done. Will it be done by the end of the year? Who knows . . .
Reviewing my 5 goals for the quarter, I have completed 2 of them. Yeah! What they are, that is between me and the Almighty.
I've written before about success and how success is different for each person. Here's one post from 2011. It still holds true, in my opinion.
But how ready are for you for success? What is the huge "pie in the sky" goal was to land on your lap? Let's say your goal is to have a book made into a movie. What if a big movie studio not only gave you a fat contract for your book but it also was speeding along to be made right away? What if, all of a sudden, a book of yours sudden flew off the shelves and you made five and six figures a month?
How ready are you for it? There's a mindset that needs to be firm in place. It's a rarity for someone to come into massive amounts of money (there are other metrics to success, but I'm focusing on money as an example) and not have troubles. Whether it's starting to do drugs and drink, or run around partying, or spending like money has no end, most who come into it aren't ready. But if you mentally prepare for what you're going to do, it will help guide you.
What are you preparing for today? What is your success metric?
First, I am currently around the 25,000 word mark on my epic fantasy and I'm quite a distance away from completing the first part--there are four parts to the book; the original plan was to write one part per quarter. That may not happen now. I'm still writing everyday but the story is taking longer to tell. Not a bad thing. The story will get done. Will it be done by the end of the year? Who knows . . .
Reviewing my 5 goals for the quarter, I have completed 2 of them. Yeah! What they are, that is between me and the Almighty.
I've written before about success and how success is different for each person. Here's one post from 2011. It still holds true, in my opinion.
But how ready are for you for success? What is the huge "pie in the sky" goal was to land on your lap? Let's say your goal is to have a book made into a movie. What if a big movie studio not only gave you a fat contract for your book but it also was speeding along to be made right away? What if, all of a sudden, a book of yours sudden flew off the shelves and you made five and six figures a month?
How ready are you for it? There's a mindset that needs to be firm in place. It's a rarity for someone to come into massive amounts of money (there are other metrics to success, but I'm focusing on money as an example) and not have troubles. Whether it's starting to do drugs and drink, or run around partying, or spending like money has no end, most who come into it aren't ready. But if you mentally prepare for what you're going to do, it will help guide you.
What are you preparing for today? What is your success metric?
Friday, March 15, 2019
Perspectives and paradigms / Happenings In The Outhouse 15-March-2019
How do you view the world? What lens do you look at things around you? Take an honest look at it. Take a step back, if you have to. Are you able to view events from varying perspectives, from another person's shoes? Or are you narrow in how you view the world, that your way is the only way?
Given the current political climate, those who lean toward the liberal (left) side may view everything that Trump does is bad and should be criticized accordingly AND that everything they view on their side is for the greater good. One may also say the same thing about the previous Obama administration in regards to conservatives/GOP.
But how much of it is true?
Two events happened last week, one personally on Friday and another more public fiasco on Saturday that spurned this post on perspectives/paradigms and how others view the world.
Friday, I saw a FB post from a science fiction author (no, I will not share who it is) who was criticizing the current President for signing Bibles while visiting the recent havoc caused by tornadoes in Alabama. Now, my first instinct was to ignore it, hide it, and move on with my life. But I was curious. I inquired as to why they saw it as a problem. In their opinion, people shouldn't be signing books they didn't write. And since he didn't write the Bible, he shouldn't sign it.
Okay . . .
So, I poked the bear a little more--grin. A gentle poke, mind you. Writers may be asked to sign other things, like part of someone's body or their Kindle/iPad. What did I get back? The same rehashing, that it was odd he was asked to sign a Bible, clearly a book he didn't write, this author said.
In viewing the other comments, it didn't take a genius to figure out how politically-slated the author's "friends" were, not to mention the pure hatred toward a single member of our society.
Keep in mind, with my gentle poke, I reminded them that if the President handed out copies of his books, signed and all, how would the media portray it? The response from said SF author? Same old rehash from before. The author didn't answer my question at all (I wanted to remind this author of how a certain president with the last name of Obama gave a gift of a iPod with all of his speeches on it, but thought better of it.)
In the end, I just deleted the comment, "snoozed" the author for 30 days, and went on with my life. This author clearly was too narrow-minded and hypocritical to expand their thinking, even to have a civil dialogue. Because a civil dialogue was my only intention.
The other event took the true crime podcast community by storm. Again, I'm not mentioning names, but a popular true crime podcast was removed from a network (a podcast network, not a media network like CNN or Fox; again, no names here) for posting a meme on Twitter. Looking at it from both sides, I saw people who were clear supporters of the podcast and those who hated it. There was much blaming on both sides.
I'll end this post quickly, as I see that it's rambling on for quite a length, but the true lesson learned from the true crime podcast fiasco is this: when dealing with something, be it a meme or a post, before responding, take a pause. Ask yourself: do I want to do this? What are the consequences, if I do?
Even though our natural response to a stimulus is to quickly respond, take a moment . . . and ask if you really should respond the way you want.
I could go on and on, but this post is long enough. I may revisit this topic at another time.
Given the current political climate, those who lean toward the liberal (left) side may view everything that Trump does is bad and should be criticized accordingly AND that everything they view on their side is for the greater good. One may also say the same thing about the previous Obama administration in regards to conservatives/GOP.
But how much of it is true?
Two events happened last week, one personally on Friday and another more public fiasco on Saturday that spurned this post on perspectives/paradigms and how others view the world.
Friday, I saw a FB post from a science fiction author (no, I will not share who it is) who was criticizing the current President for signing Bibles while visiting the recent havoc caused by tornadoes in Alabama. Now, my first instinct was to ignore it, hide it, and move on with my life. But I was curious. I inquired as to why they saw it as a problem. In their opinion, people shouldn't be signing books they didn't write. And since he didn't write the Bible, he shouldn't sign it.
Okay . . .
So, I poked the bear a little more--grin. A gentle poke, mind you. Writers may be asked to sign other things, like part of someone's body or their Kindle/iPad. What did I get back? The same rehashing, that it was odd he was asked to sign a Bible, clearly a book he didn't write, this author said.
In viewing the other comments, it didn't take a genius to figure out how politically-slated the author's "friends" were, not to mention the pure hatred toward a single member of our society.
Keep in mind, with my gentle poke, I reminded them that if the President handed out copies of his books, signed and all, how would the media portray it? The response from said SF author? Same old rehash from before. The author didn't answer my question at all (I wanted to remind this author of how a certain president with the last name of Obama gave a gift of a iPod with all of his speeches on it, but thought better of it.)
In the end, I just deleted the comment, "snoozed" the author for 30 days, and went on with my life. This author clearly was too narrow-minded and hypocritical to expand their thinking, even to have a civil dialogue. Because a civil dialogue was my only intention.
The other event took the true crime podcast community by storm. Again, I'm not mentioning names, but a popular true crime podcast was removed from a network (a podcast network, not a media network like CNN or Fox; again, no names here) for posting a meme on Twitter. Looking at it from both sides, I saw people who were clear supporters of the podcast and those who hated it. There was much blaming on both sides.
I'll end this post quickly, as I see that it's rambling on for quite a length, but the true lesson learned from the true crime podcast fiasco is this: when dealing with something, be it a meme or a post, before responding, take a pause. Ask yourself: do I want to do this? What are the consequences, if I do?
Even though our natural response to a stimulus is to quickly respond, take a moment . . . and ask if you really should respond the way you want.
I could go on and on, but this post is long enough. I may revisit this topic at another time.
Friday, March 8, 2019
Appeal to your niche / Happenings In The Outhouse 08-March-2019
Who is your target audience?
And please do not say the world. Even though books like Harry Potter seem to be read by most people on planet Earth, it was still written as a young adult book. That is the intended audience.
Find out who the niche audience is for what you're working on. Keep it as simple as possible.
Thriller readers that lean toward the political side.
Cozy mysteries with a bit of grit.
Fast-paced fantasies.
Romance with a flair of mystery, intrigue, and thrillers.
Serial killer thrillers.
Hard science fiction with a dash of romance.
Humorous thrillers that ride on the edge of satire.
You may not be able to narrow it down like I listed above. And (honestly) I just tossed these together in a matter of minutes.
Keep in mind, your niche is also . . . drum roll please . . . anything you write. Believe it or not, there are those who love what you write, no matter what it is. I have a handful of authors that I love to read, no matter the genre.
Speaking on genres, even though it is traditionally-minded not to mix them up, if that's your thing, if that's what you love to read . . . do it! Mix it up!
And please do not say the world. Even though books like Harry Potter seem to be read by most people on planet Earth, it was still written as a young adult book. That is the intended audience.
Find out who the niche audience is for what you're working on. Keep it as simple as possible.
Thriller readers that lean toward the political side.
Cozy mysteries with a bit of grit.
Fast-paced fantasies.
Romance with a flair of mystery, intrigue, and thrillers.
Serial killer thrillers.
Hard science fiction with a dash of romance.
Humorous thrillers that ride on the edge of satire.
You may not be able to narrow it down like I listed above. And (honestly) I just tossed these together in a matter of minutes.
Keep in mind, your niche is also . . . drum roll please . . . anything you write. Believe it or not, there are those who love what you write, no matter what it is. I have a handful of authors that I love to read, no matter the genre.
Speaking on genres, even though it is traditionally-minded not to mix them up, if that's your thing, if that's what you love to read . . . do it! Mix it up!
Friday, March 1, 2019
The (false) cost of stupidity / Happenings In The Outhouse 01-March-2019
"Beware of what you do online, as it may come back to haunt you."
"If I post this, someone may say bad things about me and offend me."
"My life is over because I used to be in pornography." Or the equivalent: "If I start acting in adult films (porn) everyone from my hometown will know what I'm doing for a living."
Attention. People crave it--not all, but it seems like a growing number of people do. I can't prove that it truly is a growing number. If you're on any social media network or if you watch any of the 24/7 news networks, there are people vying for attention.
Take a certain actor who recently decided to fake an attack on himself. Why? He wanted the attention. He felt he deserved more and wanted to do something drastic about it.
Stupid? Yup.
Did he get attention? Unfortunately, yes. He may end up in jail for a while because of it, but he may have wanted to risk it in order to garner attention.
Now, I'm not saying that one should act like an ever-increasing idiot to garner attention. Keep in mind, the attention is short-lived by and large--although for some, the attention may last much, much longer. Remember the childhood bully who tormented you? Everyone has one. What if that bully, now grown up, was a new employee where you work or a politician who wants your vote or a new business owner who wants your business. I don't know about you, but most people would lean toward not welcoming said bully.
"But, Mark, why is attention always bad?"
Sorry, I never said attention was always bad. The way one does it may be. Then again, go back to the quoted statements at the top of this post. Because so many people are garnering for attention, it makes one a very small fish in a large ocean. The first quote is a warning many older people give to younger people. If they do something stupid online, will it really haunt them forever? Chances are, it won't. The next quote may also be true, but ask yourself this: do you really care? I've tested the waters on this (not very often, as I don't post very many controversial things) with no comments or repercussions.
And last two statements about the adult film industry is interesting. I watched an interview of a previous adult film star who had converted their life to Christ, and those two statements were what she said about her life. I applaud her for making the right choice in her life, but viewing the statements, I lean toward the fact that unless the said adult star actually said something, no one would ever know what they did for a living.
Just saying.
The solution? Keep working on what you were meant to do. Treat people with respect. On your work, keep honing your skills and look to the future. Where will you be in five years? Ten years? Twenty?
"If I post this, someone may say bad things about me and offend me."
"My life is over because I used to be in pornography." Or the equivalent: "If I start acting in adult films (porn) everyone from my hometown will know what I'm doing for a living."
Attention. People crave it--not all, but it seems like a growing number of people do. I can't prove that it truly is a growing number. If you're on any social media network or if you watch any of the 24/7 news networks, there are people vying for attention.
Take a certain actor who recently decided to fake an attack on himself. Why? He wanted the attention. He felt he deserved more and wanted to do something drastic about it.
Stupid? Yup.
Did he get attention? Unfortunately, yes. He may end up in jail for a while because of it, but he may have wanted to risk it in order to garner attention.
Now, I'm not saying that one should act like an ever-increasing idiot to garner attention. Keep in mind, the attention is short-lived by and large--although for some, the attention may last much, much longer. Remember the childhood bully who tormented you? Everyone has one. What if that bully, now grown up, was a new employee where you work or a politician who wants your vote or a new business owner who wants your business. I don't know about you, but most people would lean toward not welcoming said bully.
"But, Mark, why is attention always bad?"
Sorry, I never said attention was always bad. The way one does it may be. Then again, go back to the quoted statements at the top of this post. Because so many people are garnering for attention, it makes one a very small fish in a large ocean. The first quote is a warning many older people give to younger people. If they do something stupid online, will it really haunt them forever? Chances are, it won't. The next quote may also be true, but ask yourself this: do you really care? I've tested the waters on this (not very often, as I don't post very many controversial things) with no comments or repercussions.
And last two statements about the adult film industry is interesting. I watched an interview of a previous adult film star who had converted their life to Christ, and those two statements were what she said about her life. I applaud her for making the right choice in her life, but viewing the statements, I lean toward the fact that unless the said adult star actually said something, no one would ever know what they did for a living.
Just saying.
The solution? Keep working on what you were meant to do. Treat people with respect. On your work, keep honing your skills and look to the future. Where will you be in five years? Ten years? Twenty?
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