Writer Resolutions

I've never made a resolution I haven't kept... I almost wrote that with a straight face. Why, I nearly spit out my tea. Let's be honest, shall we? In the past I've fallen short in so many ways whether its resolving to lose weight, pay off debt, or become more organized I always seem to fall short of the initial image in my head. Sometimes by a smidgen, sometimes by a mile. 

 Truth is, resolutions are challenging but that doesn't stop us. Year after year we resolve and fail. Resolve and fail. I love resolutions myself.  For one day we are allowed, nay encouraged, to dream big. We are shown a blank calendar, 365 days of promise, and are told to make something of it. That something can be anything, anything our little hearts can dream up. The prospect is both thrilling and disheartening at the same time. 

It's times like these that I think of Anne Shirley's famous quote, "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it." How encouraging, yes? Each day, each year we can make our lives what we want of them. But any true Anne fan will remember the reply Anne received from her school teacher, Muriel Stacy who says, "Ah, no mistakes in it yet."  

Was Miss Stacy merely attempting to burst Anne's bubble, to bring her down and make her more sensible and realistic (ie: boring)? In my opinion, no, she wasn't. It's easy to dream big. We can't help ourselves, but often times in dreaming so large we create an almost impossible feat. We set ourselves up for failure by not recognizing the realities of the task and the limitations of our own abilities. Resolutions can be achieved but only if we approach them like we do any other goals in our lives. We need a plan of actionable steps. 

Action plans are the blueprint for success. We start with a mission statement, a goal that is measurable and by measurable I mean, is it something with a tangible finish line. Resolving to lose weight is far too vague, whereas resolving to lose 20 pounds is far more measurable. When thinking of your resolutions think of how you will know you have reached success? What will be your signal to yourself that you accomplished what you set out to do? My mission statement for 2018 is a big one, bigger than anything I have ever done before. 

I am going to finish writing 3 books before December 31, 2018. 

Holy crap, that's huge. I can feel my heart bouncing even as I wrote that, but let's step back a notch. Is this a goal I can reasonably achieve? Well, given that each of my first drafts run approximately 60,000 words, to reach my goal I will need to have written over 180,000 words. If I divide 180,000 by 365 days I get 493 words. That tells me I will need to write a minimum 493 words a day. That's not too bad. Even on my worst days of writing I average 1000 words a day, sometimes I can achieve as many as 3,000 words a day. Given that I am already 18,000 words into the first project (Thanks NaNoWriMo!), I think it's fair to say my goal is achievable. 

The next step when planning out your resolution is to break it down further into smaller chunks. How do you eat an elephant? (Forget the why, OK? Assume you have no choice.) The answer is simple, one bite at a time. I want to take that 180,000 words and break it down by project. I want a measurable goal for each book. A finish line. An end date. A champagne and chocolate kind of day.

For my resolution, I have set one deadline for end of February 2018. The next is set for June 2018 and the last is set for sometime in November. This gives me a nice 4 week buffer in case of any mishaps. Yay! 

So now, instead of trying to keep on track for an entire year, all I need to do is make sure I am on track for each project. Three to four months is a far more immediate time frame than 12. But I never stop there. Each week on my planner I have written down goals. Sometimes it's words written, other times is revision progression but the end game is always the same. I have an action plan to follow. I have measurable goals to gauge my progress. I have the means to get me where I want to go. 

That's not to say I won't have hiccups. I will. I've made allowances for that so hopefully I can make up time if I fall behind and not get too far off track. Once I took my 2018 goal and broke it down into project goals and then monthly or weekly goals my resolution became far more achievable. The real resolution becomes following the blueprint I've laid out. 

In the end, this means a lot of new material coming from me over the next year, new stories, new challenges, new murders. I'll try to keep you up to date but, as you can see, I'm already planning on being very, very busy. 

Happy New Year, Dear Readers! All the best for a happy, healthy, prosperous 2018! 

Choosing & Working with a Cover Artist

It's that time of the process again. I've nearly signed off on the final proof of my cover for SHADOWS OF MADNESS, the sixth and last book of the Marshall House Mysteries. As a self published author I have final say in how my covers will look. That can bring about great excitement but also great trepidation.

It's often said, you can't judge a book by it's cover, but I could argue, that's not true, at least not when it comes to actual books. Readers do judge books by their covers and that's why it behoves any author to ensure they've put their best cover forward.

A cover is a book's most valuable advertising piece. It sets a tone for the story and gives readers a sneak peak into what they can expect. A bad cover can cause an otherwise brilliant book to sit on a shelf unread. When it's time for me to acquire another cover, I remind myself of a few simple rules for choosing a cover and working with my designer.

1) Before you start, look online at other published books in your genre. See what covers look like for books that are performing well. Obviously, it's performance is relative to how well the story is written but sales can also be indicative of how eye-catching the cover is. Make a note of elements you like on certain covers. Create a Pinterest board to keep notes and keep all your favourite cover styles in one easy to view place.

2) If you don't have a regular go-to designer yet, scope out the internet for premade covers. Premade covers are (sometimes) less expensive and are easy to evaluate. Signing on with an untested artist for a cover may turn out disastrous (as it did for me once) and you could end up losing a lot of money if the proofs they provide are horrible. Avoid signing any contracts for a custom cover with a artist you haven't worked with before. Instead chose a premade cover where all the design elements are visible and rest assured that the cover you have selected is what you will get. Self publishing is a big money maker for those looking to cash in and unscrupulous people often advertise themselves as having more skills than they actually do (this goes for editing as well). If you've signed a contract and provided a down payment/deposit you may be out of luck when the proofs they provide are not AT ALL what you were expecting. Buyer beware.

3) When evaluating a cover check for these things:

use of colour (are the colours used pleasing to the eye. Look for complementary colours -red/green, blue/orange. yellow/purple. Remember, if a colour is used on one part of the cover, such as in a title or even a small detail, that same colour must appear somewhere else as well. Otherwise that element will stick out and look like it doesn't belong)

use of composition and balance (watch where your eyes go. It should flow across the image like a backwards S, starting at the top left hand side, your eye should move down into the centre of the page, circle around and stay there. It doesn't matter if the title and author name are on the top or at the bottom of the page but the image should look balanced. I would also advise against using any model who has their back to the reader unless there is something else interesting to look at like a detailed dress/corset, extravagant hair style or complicated weaponry.

4) If you decide your ready for a custom cover with a trusted, proven artist, remember communication is key to a happy transaction. Show them your Pinterest boards, give them ideas but allow them to chose what works best visually. If you don't like something say so. It's your cover after all but remember working with artists can be emotional (I should know, I'm an artist myself) so make sure you praise your designer sometimes. Tell them what elements you like before asking for changes or tweaks. Always keep the communication professional and respectful.

5) Pay them on time! Some contracts require all up front, others are good when half and half while others are cool to accept it all in one instalment at the end. The process you both decide on doesn't matter (though I would caution you to never pay all up front) as long as you respect their time and talents. Just like you like to be paid promptly so do they, especially when they've already committed a substantial amount of time to your project.

6) Make sure you give yourself lots of time to find and/or design your cover, especially if you intend to offer your book up for preorders. It's not your artist's fault if you are under pressure. This is not something you want your designer (or editor) to rush on. By the time you are nearing the end of the first draft you should have an idea what you want for your cover, if not then you are already behind.

Did I miss anything? Any tips you'd like to offer your fellow writers? Leave a comment below.

Change it up...Introducing A Marshall House Mystery series

After much thought, I've decided to rename my mystery series. Instead of being called A Peter Ainsley Mystery, my current series will be known as A Marshall House Mystery.

Why the need for a change?

The answers are simply this.... Although a wonderful character and definitely the mainstay of the books, Peter Ainsley is just one of the ensemble that readers have come to know and love. Margaret has proven to be invaluable not only to her brother, Peter, but also me, as the writer. Her involvement in the mysteries have become more and more evident as the series progressed.

As a proud feminist, I don't think I would be true to my beliefs if I allowed this strong female character's contributions to be overshadowed by her those of her brother. I feel that calling the series, A Marshall House series, will allow recognition of both Margaret and Peter as the protagonists, able to carry a story completely on their own or merely play a supporting role.

My plan for the Marshall House Mystery series includes six books.

CHORUS OF THE DEAD
DEAD SILENT
THE DEAD AMONG US
SWEET ASYLUM
PRAYERS FOR THE DYING (spring 2016)
SHADOWS OF MADNESS (spring 2017)

Once the sixth book is concluded my plans for the these characters change. How? I'm not exactly sure. There's no point in getting ahead of ourselves, but I do know that the series as it stands now will change. Future books will take on a new perspective, new series name and perhaps new branding.

Re-naming the Peter Ainsley Mystery series is part of my overall plan to create definable groupings of stories so that no matter how Margaret, Peter, Jonas and Julia change readers will be able to follow their tales and enjoy a good mystery,

SWEET ASYLUM (Book 4) and some reflection

Another book of mine, SWEET ASYLUM, my fourth, has hit the virtual shelves.

About a month ago I was fortunate enough to be part of another launch for an anthology, Fish or Cut Bait, put together by Sisters In Crime International.

In that anthology I have a short story titled "Easy Prey" which is only my second short story set in modern times. With both of these launches and the necessary work leading up to them I've hardly had much time to come up for air. Now that I am on the other side of things I have a bit of time to reflect and think about my writing career so far.

When I set out to self-publish I wrote up a business plan, which included a rough budget and necessary steps I would need to tackle. I made a commitment to self-publishing 4 full-length novels knowing that success would be achieved over a number of works, not just one. By setting a four book goal I began with a focus on a career not just a single book.

CHORUS OF THE DEAD was published in July 2012. DEAD SILENT was available May 2013. The DEAD AMONG US was ready May 2014 and now SWEET ASYLUM has gone out into the world (June 2015). For those keeping track, it took me three years since hitting 'publish' in 2012 to hitting publish on my fourth book.

In those three years I also had three short stories published in various anthologies, each one reaching a new, unique audience and hopefully beckoning new readers to my series.

So, four books in. I did what I said I was going to do, so... now what?

I keep writing. The success of Peter Ainsley has been so encouraging. I am continually amazed by the number of people who contact me saying they love my books. I am surprised that a fan base could be grown for such a small self-publisher like myself. The first year was not encouraging at all and my second book made only a small impact. It's only been in the last year that my series had gained some traction. My income is not supplementary any more. It's a bona fide income and it grows with each new addition to the series. All in all, it's been encouraging and I'm happy I took the leap into self publishing.

Peter Ainsley... in Triplicate

I hit a milestone this summer. I published my third novel, which also happens to be the third instalment of the Peter Ainsley mystery series.

THE DEAD AMONG US continues the story of Peter & Margaret who face off against a horrendous criminal who is targeting pauper children.

It's been such a wild ride writing these books, and self-publishing them has been just wild. I remember agonizing over what to do with Chorus of the Dead. I wondered at the validity of self-publishing and whether the publishing industry would look favourably at my choice. All three of my books are now ranked in Kindle's Top 100 for mystery/thrillers-historicals. They generate hundreds of downloads each each month, narrowing in on one thousand for July. This translates as a nice income for myself, compensating me nicely for the hours of dedicated work I put in to each title.

But there's still work to be done.

Mystery is a difficult genre to compete in. I still have less than 10 reviews for each of my books and often that muddies the waters regarding my success. I honestly don't know how to generate more reviews. I don't believe in hard core soliciting or creating duplicate accounts (sock-puppeting). I don't believe in spamming my twitter feed or spending hundreds of dollars on internet ads. What I do believe in is a good story and that is where I lay my focus. I want to tell the best story I possibly can.

Recently another indie pointed out to me that I am a slow writer. Each of my books have been published a year a part whereas others aim to have a new title every 3-4 months.  I may not be out-selling other indie-authors  and my sales maybe paltry compared those in erotica or fantasy but I stand by my stories. I stand by my process, slow as it may be.

I do not see self-publishing as a get rich quick scheme. I have been writing and educating myself on writing since I was in high school. I majored in Journalism in college and achieved an advanced diploma in Creative Writing shortly thereafter. The only thing I have ever wanted to be was a writer so I can safely say I am not going anywhere.

I will continue to write compelling stories with layered characters and fabulous covers (cheeky, aren't I?). I have recognized a trend with each of my books, a steady incline in readership and loyalty. This is what I will build my career upon, without chasing trends or including gratuitous sex.

I am a writer.