Why I Self-Published

In 2012, when I was preparing to write Balor Reborn, I had to make a decision - write and prepare a book for publication in a week, or do the whole thing by myself. The first option would have only been exciting if (a) I had written a full-length novel that (b) was accepted by a publisher in (c) a short period of time after the writing.

The second option at least allowed me to publish by the end of week.

But that wasn't the only reason I decided to self-publish. It wasn't just a time issue. It was also a case that there weren't, at the time, many publishers of novellas that excited me. There was no one there to take my book seriously, that I knew of, because of its length.

I was aiming for short and snappy, and I could only provide that publishing service myself.

The same reason stands for why I continue to self-publish some books, and why I don't self-publish others. At the end of the day, I still want my first full-length novel to reach publication to be through a traditional publisher.

However, self-publishing, for the time and books that are in it, is ideal for me. It gives me complete control over everything I want to do with particular stories, and allows me to figure out what does and does not work in an actual marketplace - not just in terms of what books sell and what books don't, but also which marketing methods I can pull off, how I can run a business, that sort of thing.

All in all, I like the control I can get from self-publishing, and I like that I can bring certain stories into the world without going through a gateway.

This isn't to say I don't appreciate the work of publishers, because I do appreciate it, but when it comes to new projects that require particular care in terms of pacing and publication, I'd like the risk of not meeting publication deadlines to be entirely on me, and not down to a department in a company not being ready to deliver, or doubting the decision to publish at a particular time.

(Some context: I plan on releasing a series of books with publication dates at very particular times of the year - several books per year. Only big-name authors can get away with that in the traditional publishing field, because of the cost involved in printing the books. This is why I'm sticking with ebooks, for the time being, too, because I don't have to worry about finding the right price from a printer, while trying to balance several other aspects of life.)

All in all, the decision to self-publish comes down to my lifestyle. I work three days a week, and mind my niece every week, too, and this is on the back of spending my entire week either in college or working. I have a limited amount of hours free in the week, one way or another, and that's all about to happen again - I need to know that the deadlines are mine to impose, around everything else I've had to do in my life for the past few years. To be perfectly honest, I'm still striving for the right balance in my life. I'm not ashamed to admit that. But I'm getting there. I'm figuring things out. And at least I get to do it on my own time.

The Process of Writing a Book

I have seven books available on Amazon. Seven. While each is different - though, obviously, Balor Reborn and The Hounds of Hell are somewhat similar since they're part of a series - there's a process that comes with writing them. Even when I wrote a book in a week, I stuck to this process. It just so happened to be on fast-forward. Here's how I do things.

Step 1: The Idea

I start with an idea. For the Modern Irish Myth books, it was simple. I wanted to write a series of books about the return of gods and fairies to Ireland, and I wanted to start with one of my favourite villains from Irish mythology: Balor of the Evil Eye. For Planning Before Writing and 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block, the ideas came from wanting to write about writing. I wanted to share what I knew, and from a list of topics that I thought I could feasibly write something about, they stuck out off the page.

Step 2: Planning

Not every book I've written has been planned in the same way. The Modern Irish Myth books have a chapter-by-chapter summary written as the plan. They're usually 7-10 pages long, typed, and go into quite a bit of detail.

Planning Before Writing was planned with a mind map on a small piece of paper. I literally just wrote down different ways to plan a book, and different reasons for planning.

25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block was simply a list of chapters before it was written. I decided upon an order for them to appear in, but after that I was writing what was necessary for each chapter, as it came. I didn't necessarily have to write the book in order, but I did.

My other books fell into similar patterns, either a list of a detailed description of each part of the book. The important thing, for me, was to get together even a small document about the book that I could work from.

Step 3: Time Management

This doesn't always happen for me, but it certainly helps. Balor Reborn was written in a week. I needed to  have the time set aside to do it. Planning Before Writing was written while I was on Teaching Placement. I had to have time in the evening to write a chapter, but after my preparation for lessons the next day. 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block was written, largely, during my niece's nap times while I was minding her, or in the evenings. It was affected by Christmas and a suddenly increase in working hours.

When I really get going properly, I have a system in place for writing a book regarding time management. I give it priority over anything else I have to write that day. If I need to have a story written for the next day, it means I have to write the book without distraction. I write every day, without exception, and I make sure I have the time to do so. No excuses, no exceptions.

Step 4: Writing the First Draft

I write rather quickly. This is due to a combination of the previous three steps - the idea keeping me interested, the plan helping me go without stopping, and the time management allowing me to work uninterrupted by other duties - and my ability to type fairly quickly without error. I picked up the latter skill over the years when I was writing my first book. Between the ages of 12 and 15, I started the same book four times. We didn't have an Internet connection in the house, we didn't have USB keys, and we didn't have a way of transferring old files over to a new computer. The final first draft I wrote had to be written from scratch, but that allowed me to develop my typing abilities while doing something that interested me.

With that to back me up, writing the first draft of a book is relatively simple. I could, if I had the inclination, write a full length novel in two weeks. I would need to have the time away from other responsibilities like child minding or bookselling, but I think it could be done. (The maths involved in this speculation: 90000 words, divided by 14 days = 6430 words per day, which is less than 6 hours work at a rate of 1200 words per hour. That's my rough average, taking tiredness into consideration for longer writing periods.)

I follow my plan for the first draft, deviating only if I think the book could do with some padding out and I have an idea beforehand. The last thing I ever want is to expand a book for the sake of it, so any additional extras are there for a reason.

Step 5: Editing the First Draft

For me, editing is an annoying process. I don't like changing my book too much. I always do a proof edit, to make sure there are no typing errors, but when I have my doubts over a story I have to get someone else to read it. Since 2012, I've relied on a friend who reads spectacularly fast. He read and commented on Balor Reborn in an hour. I attempt to remove as much necessity to change a story as possible by working on my plan in detail, sticking to it, and playing out questionable scenes in my head before writing them. (If you ever see me talking to myself walking down the road, that's probably what I'm doing. I can't help myself sometimes, and other times I just like the sound of my own voice...)

Step 6: The Cover

I always need a cover. Since the days of self-publishing technology becoming available to me, I've needed to know what my book would look like with a cover. I've even done covers for books I don't plan on releasing. I just enjoy making them.

Step 7: Formatting the Book

When the editing has been done - and you can include rewrites in there - I also format my book. This involves either preparing it for publication, or just readying it for when I print it off for myself. I like the book to look neat, and to read easily. I even print the cover onto a sheet of photo paper for a nice glossy effect. (Seriously. Even if I don't keep a printed copy of the book nearby, I print the cover. Right now, I have the cover for 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block beside me at my desk.)

Step 8: Celebrate

I have a ritual when I finish a book of getting a cup of tea. I leave my tablet in my room. I don't watch the television. I just sit at the kitchen table and enjoy my cup of tea, and maybe tell a couple of people via text message that I finished the book. That's it. That's how I celebrate. It's not the spuds-and-beer stereotype we Irish are known for, but it'll have to do!

When everything else is done and I've got this new book written and ready for me to do what I will with it, I can start all over again. I'll pick another idea, maybe even a different genre, and I'll write another book. It's my favourite past-time. (Publishing is a different matter. That's business. The writing is for fun.) If I could, I'd just write all the time. Someday, I hope that'll be the reality for me. For now, though, I'll just have to stick with my 8-step process and enjoy writing for the sake of it when life allows.

Worker, Chef, Writer, Trainer

If today had a theme, it would be Time. My ability to keep track of it was tested, both in work and at home, and while I failed miserably in the shop, I managed to not kill everyone at home.

See, as part of the changes happening in the shop, we have to return a lot of old stock. I was left to the kids' section today, with a twenty page list and a pile of empty boxes. My four-hour shift usually drags by, and while I did check the time on a couple of occasions, I failed to truly keep track of things. Five minutes after my shift had ended, I was still plucking books from the shelves.

Oops?

Thankfully, I had access to a clock later in the day when, by circumstance, I was left to put the dinner in the oven. Lots of different types of chicken (you know, thighs, wings, drumsticks), any of which could have killed us if not cooked properly.

But I'm a good boy. I put the food in the oven at the right time, and everything turned out nicely.

Today also marked the beginning of two things: the work on my poetry and prose blog, and a nostalgic game-playing experience.

I began the blog-work by putting together the banner and getting the blog a name. I've opted to use Wordpress. While Blogger is good, I find it's a lot more difficult for other people using it to find posts. Wordpress at least lets people use tags that actually work within Wordpress.com to find posts with that tag. (Yes, I know, Blogger tags are for Google's benefit...)

I have a list of things I need to do to finalise the work before the launch (I'm hoping Friday, with a flash story), and I'm going to draw up a list of different projects to keep me going on the site. Fun, right?

As for the nostalgia... well, someone mentioned Pokémon on Facebook earlier, and now I'm playing Pokémon Yellow online. It was the second - and last - Pokémon game I owned. I could have picked a more modern one - even just more recent than Yellow - but I couldn't resist the idea of having my own little Pikachu following my character around on screen.

It brings back fun memories of playing the game as a child. I still have the Gameboy I played it on, though I couldn't tell you where the games have all disappeared to. It's a pity, really. We probably gave them to a cousin, or something.

Still, I have my Pokémon game to play, now, I have a new blog to work on, I have a lot of work to do in the shop, and I didn't give the family food poisoning on account of my ability to look at a clock. I call that a good day.

Without Time

I had great intentions to set myself up with a running schedule. I mentioned that, last time, I would like to post a Friday Flash story, and a poem on Wednesdays, and a blog on Mondays. While I did manage to get the poem posted onto YouTube - which was a new and fun experience for me - I didn't get to write the flash story.

This was, by and large, because I didn't actually have the time when everything else was taken into consideration. I imagination I'll have a similiar problem again this Friday, though I don't have an entire Comedy Journal to do for college. I just find that when I don't have the idea already in my head, coming up with the whole flash story on the day is a bit...tiring. Attempting to write the whole story from scratch within an hour, then, is nearly impossible. I had started writing one, and one I would have enjoyed if I had gotten it down in my head properly, but I started off wrong and it only got worse.

Maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll get to write a story this week. That would be nice, if it can be done. We'll see, sure.

In the meantime, I can at least do the work I need to that would keep everything else in check. By that, I mean get another poem up on YouTube. I might write a new one, just for that, or work from a backlist of poems I have that I'm happy with. I'll have to see how much time I actually have to do that.

As it is, I had wanted to do a video for Project For Awesome (P4A) this year, but didn't get a chance. With the  full time hours I currently have in work and all the business of Christmas to deal with, getting to do much else is difficult (especially when I'm also doing the last bit of college work that needs doing before Christmas!).

I'm hoping this isn't the way things will always be. Actually, I know it's not. When I'm only doing the one thing - working or college - I can manage fine. Right now, I'm attempting the full time hours and the college work that needs to be done. So, I'm without the extra time I need to do everything else I want to do, and still talk to my family.

Anyway, this has just been my long winded explanation as to why (a) I didn't have a flash story up on Friday and (b) why I didn't get to make a P4A video. With a couple of days off ahead of me, maybe I'll get to sort out a few of the things that have been on my mind lately. I'll be a busy boy, that's for sure!

Passionate Writing

A few days ago, I began the actual writing work on a book that few people have been told anything about. I began with the introduction, and I've realised something that made me stop writing it: I wasn't enjoying it. It was a bare-facts, passionless piece, and because I plan to publish this book, I have to start again.

That's not a problem for me. I've started books several times before. The first book I wrote, while the writing sucks terribly and there's a lot of it, has about six different beginnings, because I was never happy with it. That was fiction, and this is non-fiction, but the same principle of starting all over again still applies. In every case, I identified the problem early on.

I won't go into detail on what the book's about, just yet, not until I've actually gotten it underway, but I figured out the standard I want it to meet.

If you've signed up to my website, you'll see a free PDF in the Subscriber Zone. It's about designing a website. Before I posted that, I had also written another document. Again, a secret like the book. The point, though, is that I want the book to be of the same standard as the document. I want it to be a passionate piece about the topic in question, with each chapter addressing different areas of the topic.

The introduction... not quite fitting into that.

I have a bunch of things to do to make this book work, but my first call to action is to actually find my passion for the book. This blog is often how I express a "contract" to myself publicly, and I'm doing it again. By the end of the month, I want to have enough of the book written to be able to tell people I'm writing it. That announcement will be more personal, at first, but the nitty-gritty details will find their way into the open soon after.

I'm all about my big projects, I suppose, and this is one of them. Another big one, another challenge, and something that will be fun to do if I actually put my head down and do it.

So here's my question for you: how do you manage your time to get everything you want to do done?

Fantasy, Drama, Jonny and Sam

Over the past few days of silence, I've written quite a lot as regards miniature blogs. Due to Drama, I was unable to gain access to my blog, so I've decided to post three of my "mini-blogs" here... I will warn you, the third is not quite as mini as I thought it was, but it contains some wonderful introductions to books. I say wonderful... I mean they are rough approximations as to how I would like to start my books. You will understand.

Anyway, look out for the asterisks - they'll tell you when one blog post ends and another begins. The third post will end the entire post here. Tomorrow, I'm going to be lazy again and just give you two more mini-blog posts. They're about Drama, but the Awards are tonight, so I don't want to publicly jinx myself. Plus, this way I get to tell you how we did (both with the awards... and the alcohol I know my peers will be drinking...)

***

Status Update after a couple of hours of playing Final Fantasy 13... It's amazing! Perhaps one of the greatest games of all time; fantastic stuff! So far, not much by way of character growth; personalities are developed, yes, but with the removal of the EXP system, it's difficult to judge how well I'm doing. Not to worry.

Also, the Literary Den is three! Can't believe it's lasted this long! We're still going strong too. Okay, so maybe the forum's gone a bit quiet, but with our blog up and running the Den is never truly silent. I hope you'll join us as we keep going; there's always something going on, someone who can offer you some help or announce some new competition that's open, and I guarantee that you'll make new friends if you keep coming back, writers who know what you're going through, are experienced in a number of fields, and are always up to help new writers find their way, and to discuss the ways of the craft with those who are up for it. I sincerely hope you'll consider it.

***

Jonny Havron was found, but it's not good news. A fisherman in the Foss Basin found his body. I'm obviously a bit shaken up by it. I knew the chances if him coming back to us were slim, but there were chances all the same. Still, I can only think if his family. They'll never get to talk to their son and brother ever again.

And you know, he was such a nice guy too. I know it shouldn't make a difference whether or not someone is nice when this sort of stuff happens, but it does make a difference. Someone like Jonny, someone so harmless and friendly, couldn't have gotten himself into any sort of trouble. It's...well, it's a downright shame that this happened to him. We can only hope it was an accident, and not some fierce attack against Jonny. At least then we can let him rest in peace without the knowledge that he had been something we never thought he was, or that someone might mean him harm.

RIP Jonny Havron, writer and friend. You'll be missed sorely.

***

In my time in college I have discovered that time is relative to whoever happens to be concerned about it. Naturally I am concerned about time, particularly in my Lenten vow. One would imagine a day to end at midnight, but no- college has taught me that a night goes on so long as the body is willing. Admittedly my body is all that willing, but a cup is making way to convincing it to function as I type out my mini-blog segment of the day. So long as my fingers work and my mind is still in the same cycle if consciousness as it was this morning, I have not broken my rule of writing every day of Lent.

This relevance of time is a rather big thing in my novel Meet Sam. The protagonist, Sam Richards, has developed a thing of checking the time constantly. As such, my "chapters" are named after the time at which the watch is checked: it isn't rounded up or down, and it isn't something that vanished even as he sleeps, for his sleep is disturbed at various points throughout the day. The day, I might point out, is technically running onto two days, starting at eight in the morning and going on for twenty four hours. People who have read the book have always been curious about that; it's the first question I get asked, usually. It's also followed by "I really want to know what happens the next day." This next day has never been much of a thought to me, until recently. I keep thinking about how to write them, and what to have happen. One obvious suggestion has been made, something that became evident in the editing of the book. So, I have an idea for a sequel. I do think it's best served as a trilogy of books, though. Sure, there may be side books, like the untold story of Day 1 from Abby's point of view, and the story of Alex on that day, which isn't as easy to write. There are one or two texts from Alex in the book, but they're a start that can be made. How the book ends though...I'd nearly always known that. I just need to write the rest, and Sam's two extra books.

Time, in all of these stories, is important. Abby's life must become clear in this one day; the things Sam discovers about her, the things the reader learns, need to be expanded upon, while also developing the character of Nick. Yes, there are all three if Sam's books for that, but Nock won't ever have his own book. He's a support character for Sam and Abby, the one they both turn to. His personality isn't too clear for me yet to write a book about him, because right now all I have is his reactions to caring for Sam. As the relationships between Nick and the other characters develop, then maybe there's a chance for him to get the spotlight. But that's dependant on time, too. I really want to get the other four books done first, and then I'll have an idea about what to write about for Nick.

One thing I don't know yet, either, is how publishers or agents will react to the time constraints of the story. It's different, at least in the way that not many people have done it. James Joyce is one person, I suppose...but that's all I know. Whether people want a simpler to read Ulysses-type book is, as yet, unknown. Time will tell...

As to when all this writing will get done...well, there's always the summer. I have to finish editing first, but once I have a start on the next book, nothing will stop me.

Oh, I do know how to start Abby's book though. 'This is the story of one girl in Dublin, on the day that her life changed beyond her control. However, it must be noted that this day is, more or less, the imagined sequence of events that a writer could put together from the evidence given to him, told through the same medium as his own life; the story of Abby Moore is narrated by an Englishwoman in the head of the writer. While Abby is completely unaware of this fact, her day is somewhat controlled by the unfortunate madness that befalls writers in their lives: Abby's free will is choosing for her to follow the predetermined events of the day, much of which is subsequently filled in rather hastily by the preexisting thoughts of the aforementioned writer's participation in these events. It should also be noted that Abby Moore is a painter, and not a writer, and, as such, much of her life is imagined in an infinitely more complex way than the writer would choose. Such is the way of this writer that he has thrown himself into a task that he cannot begin to fathom until it's completion.'

There's also an intro to Sam's second book: 'Samuel Emily Richards had a rather strange desire to be spoken about in his most dangerously low moments in his life. As he himself is the writer, and a Lonely Writer at that, Sam subsequently finds himself with a narrator. In previous occurance, this has proven to be something of a success, though Sam is almost sure that on this second hearing, his remaining shreads of sanity should be taken into careful consideration. The existence of Sam's sanity has become, in these words, as doubtful as the voice in his head, and as such he cannot be deemed responsible for the actions he might find himself participating in. Unfortunately for Sam, his dignity prevents him from sharing his ill fortune of madness with the world, and so he stands on a cliff, ready to end things if his next breaths aren't the best of his life.

His phone began to ring.'

Written just now! Epic or what? I know where to go from there, too. That's both a good thing and a bad thing. Good in that I have a start, bad in that I don't have time to write the book yet!

Time, it seems, is an evil mistress, conspiring with my Muse to get the best of me at the worst moment. Thankfully, I am good at following my plot notes when I take them, and shall be able to combat this situation of timelessness with the writing a plot for book two, currently entitled Love, Sam. And with that revelation, I bid you adieu.

Reading, writing and how I need four hours more daily

Morning all. I've discovered that my day is too short. I need to read dozens of books, and very quickly, so that I can move on and buy some more, and review loads more! And I have lots of writing to do, and too many distractions in my life too.

Let me start from the beginning. On Friday, I told myself I would write until I hit somewhere in the region of 7-8,000 words on my new book, The Company. Well, I failed to reach even close to that as a result of spending the day with Sam, then being lazy later that night. So I told myself, "Okay, weekend is here. Only six hours in work, then I can write some more!" No, that never happened. The work did, but I didn't write any more. At all. Over the entire weekend. I think I'm somewhat broken, and I need to fix it. I know what you're thinking too. "He's blogging, when he could be writing." I could be, but I need to get my fingers into practice first.

So today, I have to lock myself up for four hours and just keep writing. I got an idea last night that I'm going to implement into the story to stir things up a bit, while also continuing the way I had planned to. I've been wanting to get to this part of the story for a while now. I just haven't been writing it...

The book I'm currently reading is Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (the same guy who wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy). I'm only on page 12, but I'm enjoying it. I must spend about four hours reading that later too.

I also have to monitor my Survive The Net progress. I need one more reply to an interview on blogs before I post all three. After that, I can put Charlie McDonnel's one up. Survive The Net takes about three hours of my day away sometimes. It all depends on what I have to do. Today, I have to find more people to interview, so that could take up some time. I'm also entertaining myself with the survey I posted, so I keep checking back on it, using more of my valuable time.

So where do I stand? Let's see... four hours for writing, four for reading, three for STN, about an hour and a half for eating... I only got up at a bit past nine... and I spend an unholy amount of time on Twitter and checking emails and all that jazz.... I need about fourteen hours today! Oh damn! And that's assuming I finish up quickly on everything I do, don't get booted off the computer, and don't get bored/tired. Wish me luck...