I'm not talking about criticism, constructive or otherwise. THAT should Always be listened to. No one is perfect so refusing to listen to what other sets of eyes see is simply foolish. Maybe you'll disagree, but you HAVE to listen.
No, what I'm talking about here is Subject. Should a writer turn the path their characters follow to feed what the reader market wants to hear? Or should he rigidly adhere to the story in his head?
Some might think pushing a story along more marketable trails is "selling out". They only want to write what they want to write. Honestly, that's fine, you have to do what you have to do. But I wonder, how fulfilling is that going to be if a person is only writing for themselves? Writing a diary is just fine and fulfilling in its own way...
... but... if you fancy yourself a writer... If no one wants to read what you've put down because you've chosen a subject that draws no interest, that seems like an ego bruiser to me.
This is one place where Artistry and Business collide. You have to work on the vision that touches your imagination and create the message you want to promote... yet... if you fail to find an audience, it's all for naught.
I expect somewhere in there is a balance point... I think... I wonder... and I just keep on writing.
- BK Gore
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Sunday, October 13, 2013
A Winter of Ambitious Writing
I've set an ambitious plan for the winter of 2013-14. I came about this idea with the completion and publishing of my fourth novel and the second of the Ben Jensen series.
The hardest thing for a writer to do, is successfully promote his work. It's hard because for the most part, there's no fun in it. It is simply work. The same as mucking out a stall when you own horses. No One runs out to buy a horse so that they can shovel road apples! How-some-ever it is a necessary task that goes with the joy of Horses.
Now, writing itself is not an easy piece of work but it is an indescribable joy. If you've done it correctly. At the end of the day you are as exhausted as you are when you buck twenty tons of hay into the barn. The joy is that it's that Good sort of exhaustion. That sort where you look at the barn and it's full of hay. That rewarding sort of feeling that you've accomplished something good.
When you look at the page at the end of the day, and your imagination has strung together 5,000 words of a story, and Good words too, it lights up a feeling inside that puts a smile on your face.
So there's those two competing hard jobs in writing. The writing itself that fulfills something your soul requires, and then the stall mucking labor of marketing.
What I realized when I'd finished Shadow on the Mountain is that I dropped the ball, badly, after the last book. In doing so, I lost the momentum that had begun building.
With an author competing against something over 50,000 new titles being published ever year, in just the United States... lost momentum is something a word whittler can't afford.
I allowed myself to be distracted by life and small things and took waaaaay to long to create the next story. When you've captured reader's imaginations and succeeded in leading them to gain a true liking for a character... leaving them hanging... waiting on the continuation of the story... is just wrong, and a publishing mistake!
When good people choose to risk their money and time in a writers story, that writer has accepted a duty to provide that story. When it comes in the form of a Series... that means he must roll out the next installment of the story in a reasonable time... No Excuses!
Soooo... my Ambitious Plan for this winter is to create the next two installments of the Jeb Taylor Series AND the Ben Jensen Series and have them ready to publish by April.
That means... no distractions permitted. Disciplined placement of my behind in front of the keyboard for goodly periods of time at least five days a week... and a near total immersion in the stories I have outlined.
This winter, the Arizona Desert is going to echo with the sound of tap tap tap tap tap tap tap ... as I wear out the buttons on this new toshiba laptop!
~ BK Gore
The hardest thing for a writer to do, is successfully promote his work. It's hard because for the most part, there's no fun in it. It is simply work. The same as mucking out a stall when you own horses. No One runs out to buy a horse so that they can shovel road apples! How-some-ever it is a necessary task that goes with the joy of Horses.
Now, writing itself is not an easy piece of work but it is an indescribable joy. If you've done it correctly. At the end of the day you are as exhausted as you are when you buck twenty tons of hay into the barn. The joy is that it's that Good sort of exhaustion. That sort where you look at the barn and it's full of hay. That rewarding sort of feeling that you've accomplished something good.
When you look at the page at the end of the day, and your imagination has strung together 5,000 words of a story, and Good words too, it lights up a feeling inside that puts a smile on your face.
So there's those two competing hard jobs in writing. The writing itself that fulfills something your soul requires, and then the stall mucking labor of marketing.
What I realized when I'd finished Shadow on the Mountain is that I dropped the ball, badly, after the last book. In doing so, I lost the momentum that had begun building.
With an author competing against something over 50,000 new titles being published ever year, in just the United States... lost momentum is something a word whittler can't afford.
I allowed myself to be distracted by life and small things and took waaaaay to long to create the next story. When you've captured reader's imaginations and succeeded in leading them to gain a true liking for a character... leaving them hanging... waiting on the continuation of the story... is just wrong, and a publishing mistake!
When good people choose to risk their money and time in a writers story, that writer has accepted a duty to provide that story. When it comes in the form of a Series... that means he must roll out the next installment of the story in a reasonable time... No Excuses!
Soooo... my Ambitious Plan for this winter is to create the next two installments of the Jeb Taylor Series AND the Ben Jensen Series and have them ready to publish by April.
That means... no distractions permitted. Disciplined placement of my behind in front of the keyboard for goodly periods of time at least five days a week... and a near total immersion in the stories I have outlined.
This winter, the Arizona Desert is going to echo with the sound of tap tap tap tap tap tap tap ... as I wear out the buttons on this new toshiba laptop!
~ BK Gore
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
The Ben Jensen Series is Growing. Shadow on the Mountain is Published.
My latest novel is Published! I just finished uploading to Amazon this morning. It got uploaded last night and is available at Smashwords Now! In the next few hours and days it should work smoothly through the distribution chain and be available at your favorite retailer.
This story takes Ben and Amanda into a full scale murder mystery and from what my early readers have told me it held their attention right to the end.
Follow this link and download your FREE copy of the series starter ~ A Pair of Second Chances. That will have you up to date and ready to continue the story in; Shadow on the Mountain!
Many Many thanks for your time and consideration.
~ Brian
This story takes Ben and Amanda into a full scale murder mystery and from what my early readers have told me it held their attention right to the end.
Follow this link and download your FREE copy of the series starter ~ A Pair of Second Chances. That will have you up to date and ready to continue the story in; Shadow on the Mountain!
Many Many thanks for your time and consideration.
~ Brian
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
"A Matter of Honor" and "A Pair of Second Chances" are BOTH now FREE!
My first Novel, A Matter of Honor, and the series starting volume of Jebediah Taylor's story is Now Priced at FREE at Smashwords. That should work through the retailer chain in fairly short order.
My second series, the Ben Jensen series Also has its starting Volume, A Pair of Second Chances, now Priced FREE as well.
These are permanent changes for the pricing of these two books to allow you to "taste" the characters and their stories.
It may take a short while for the pricing to work it's way through the chain but I expect that to happen quickly. Amazon has already reset the price for HONOR... and I expect A PAIR to follow suit shortly.
Here's an introductory Video you might enjoy for BK Gore the Author, and A Matter of Honor...
Many Thanks
Brian
My second series, the Ben Jensen series Also has its starting Volume, A Pair of Second Chances, now Priced FREE as well.
These are permanent changes for the pricing of these two books to allow you to "taste" the characters and their stories.
It may take a short while for the pricing to work it's way through the chain but I expect that to happen quickly. Amazon has already reset the price for HONOR... and I expect A PAIR to follow suit shortly.
Here's an introductory Video you might enjoy for BK Gore the Author, and A Matter of Honor...
Many Thanks
Brian
The Release of "Shadow on the Mountain" is Coming SOON!
Book #2 of the Ben Jensen series will be released soon. Editing is progressing well and should be finalized in the next week or so...
As Ben and Amanda work out their new lives together, they find themselves, willing or not, embroiled in a genuine murder mystery...
You'll be able to find it very soon at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Diesel, Amazon and several other Retailers of eBooks.
~ Brian
As Ben and Amanda work out their new lives together, they find themselves, willing or not, embroiled in a genuine murder mystery...
You'll be able to find it very soon at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Diesel, Amazon and several other Retailers of eBooks.
~ Brian
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Editing For Indies...
Everywhere an Indie author looks they'll read that you CAN NOT edit your own work!
How-some-ever; None of those prohibitors ever explain how a poor boy with not enough cash to eat three meals a day is supposed to pony up the $3500 bucks it takes to pay a commercial editor for the lower end of editing assistance on a finished work.
I have literally been told; "That doesn't matter! If you respect your work you do it!" Seriously? You spend the $3500 dollars that you Don't HAVE? How imaginative. That guy HAD to be a fiction writer! ... Science Fiction...
So... putting those prohibitions aside, and doing the task to be done with as good a quality as I can muster, I have discovered a couple of tricks that help.
One is enlarging the text to fill the entire screen. Sometimes having the type increased to that size, misspellings and punctuation goofs will jump out at you a little more clearly. Also, I for the life of me can't remember the name of the lil' gizmo just now... but... on the tool bar at the top is that lil' reverse P thing-a-ma-bob? Turn that on so you can see all the spacing and formatting. That will also help reveal some mistakes.
The third and most helpful thing I've found is my Kindle. Not only is it a SWEET electronic library... it is an AWESOME editing assistant for a poor aspiring author trying to turn out good work!
I email-to-kindle my finished manuscript. Right off, the biggest of formatting issues seem to pop out once that email has been converted to the kindle format.
Then, I turn on the Text to Speech Option of the kindle. Personally I use my Ipod ear buds. Though the computer generated voice sounds a lil' odd, misspellings, awkward wording and quite a few punctuation oddities JUMP out when it tries to pronounce and speak them!
I've found many tricky to "find" misspellings... when the Kindle "Sounded" weird trying to say the word!
Audioize your manuscript on your own personal Kindle as an AWESOME Text editing tool!
I follow along on my laptop and correct as I go. Just put the kindle on pause; make the corrections or rewording, hit go! and continue!
So... don't get your shorts in a knot when the prima donnas tell you that you can't. Just find the ways to make it happen!
~ BK Gore
How-some-ever; None of those prohibitors ever explain how a poor boy with not enough cash to eat three meals a day is supposed to pony up the $3500 bucks it takes to pay a commercial editor for the lower end of editing assistance on a finished work.
I have literally been told; "That doesn't matter! If you respect your work you do it!" Seriously? You spend the $3500 dollars that you Don't HAVE? How imaginative. That guy HAD to be a fiction writer! ... Science Fiction...
So... putting those prohibitions aside, and doing the task to be done with as good a quality as I can muster, I have discovered a couple of tricks that help.
One is enlarging the text to fill the entire screen. Sometimes having the type increased to that size, misspellings and punctuation goofs will jump out at you a little more clearly. Also, I for the life of me can't remember the name of the lil' gizmo just now... but... on the tool bar at the top is that lil' reverse P thing-a-ma-bob? Turn that on so you can see all the spacing and formatting. That will also help reveal some mistakes.
The third and most helpful thing I've found is my Kindle. Not only is it a SWEET electronic library... it is an AWESOME editing assistant for a poor aspiring author trying to turn out good work!
I email-to-kindle my finished manuscript. Right off, the biggest of formatting issues seem to pop out once that email has been converted to the kindle format.
Then, I turn on the Text to Speech Option of the kindle. Personally I use my Ipod ear buds. Though the computer generated voice sounds a lil' odd, misspellings, awkward wording and quite a few punctuation oddities JUMP out when it tries to pronounce and speak them!
I've found many tricky to "find" misspellings... when the Kindle "Sounded" weird trying to say the word!
Audioize your manuscript on your own personal Kindle as an AWESOME Text editing tool!
I follow along on my laptop and correct as I go. Just put the kindle on pause; make the corrections or rewording, hit go! and continue!
So... don't get your shorts in a knot when the prima donnas tell you that you can't. Just find the ways to make it happen!
~ BK Gore
Friday, August 23, 2013
Shadow on The Mountain is Finished!
Well, almost finished, all 93,405 words of it. The story is complete, now I've got the eye crossin' work of editing to do.
Writing a story is a great pleasure... editing is simply the monotonous, dreary, has to be done, work at the end. I'd compare it to owning horses. Riding a fine horse in new country up in the mountains on a sunny day is a complete joy. To be horseback, high on those sunny slopes, with a view clear to forever? Why, that's as fine a thing as you can ask for.
Buuuuut... back at the barn those six stalls full of recycled alfalfa still have to be cleaned. Yup... along with the joy of a fine horse... comes the constant shoveling of wheel barrow loads of horse poop. Anybody claiming they enjoy that is either undiagnosed Nuts! or they're off their meds.
How-some-ever... if you want the one you have to accept the other... so it's editing I'll be doing.
The first pass is actually mostly entertaining. You're the first one to get to read the story in its entirety... double checking for context/continuity goofs, clumsy, tongue tangling wording and the BIG story line DOH's!
It's those second and third trips through that get to requiring a disciplined effort. They are abso-freakin-lootly when it becomes a JOB. Those are the passes where you're looking over each word for the funny lil' miss-spellings that your mind overlooked the last two tries... and all the other such small typo blips in your authorial endeavor.
So... the story is done... but there remains a lot of work to follow up before Ben is back on the shelf with his Fresh tale.
Mr Coffee is keepin' the pot hot and I'm hard at it...
~ BK Gore
Writing a story is a great pleasure... editing is simply the monotonous, dreary, has to be done, work at the end. I'd compare it to owning horses. Riding a fine horse in new country up in the mountains on a sunny day is a complete joy. To be horseback, high on those sunny slopes, with a view clear to forever? Why, that's as fine a thing as you can ask for.
Buuuuut... back at the barn those six stalls full of recycled alfalfa still have to be cleaned. Yup... along with the joy of a fine horse... comes the constant shoveling of wheel barrow loads of horse poop. Anybody claiming they enjoy that is either undiagnosed Nuts! or they're off their meds.
How-some-ever... if you want the one you have to accept the other... so it's editing I'll be doing.
The first pass is actually mostly entertaining. You're the first one to get to read the story in its entirety... double checking for context/continuity goofs, clumsy, tongue tangling wording and the BIG story line DOH's!
It's those second and third trips through that get to requiring a disciplined effort. They are abso-freakin-lootly when it becomes a JOB. Those are the passes where you're looking over each word for the funny lil' miss-spellings that your mind overlooked the last two tries... and all the other such small typo blips in your authorial endeavor.
So... the story is done... but there remains a lot of work to follow up before Ben is back on the shelf with his Fresh tale.
Mr Coffee is keepin' the pot hot and I'm hard at it...
~ BK Gore
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