The Editing Calm before the Published Storm May 21, 2012
Posted by mattfarmer in writing.Tags: book shop, creative writing, Matt Farmer, Matthew Farmer, writing
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I have been a tad remiss in blogging. My apologies. Hectic week. They say freelance work is either famine or feast. I had one of those weeks of feast last week. It has calmed down a bit, and this upcoming week looks only slightly full.
I am into the last bit of editing my novel. Again, there have been delays getting the editing done. Technology, DARN YOU! But I have most of the notes back now. The editor gave me line edits, she read through the book, finding words to change, punctuation and grammar errors. I was amazed! She read it that closely? I thought this because I have read it so many times it is just a blur. I know when I read other people’s works for editing I read it as close. I was just, kind of excited that someone read my whole book, THAT closely. AND liked it! 
I like that.
So, yes, the book has come to a crawl while I go through the editing. But when it comes out the other side, it will read so well!
And then you can read about it here –> 
. There is going to be a week in July – 2nd through to the 8th, where each day an indie author is going to be featured. Because I love Thursdays, I will be featured on Thursday, July 5th. There will be copies of my book to give away, and an interview with me!
A big thanks to Sarah Billington
and Clair Frith
for this opportunity.
I said a couple of blog posts back that I would share some pages, blogs, which I have found interesting and worth while. So, here is some links for y’all:
Rachelle Gardner’s 7 Bad Habits of Successful Writers. In a nutshell? Sort of yes, yes, not yet but possibly yes, not yet but hopefully no, yes, yes, yes and yes.
The Guardian has 10 Rules for Writing Fiction. I don’t like rules for writing fiction. Guidelines, sure, advice, certainly, but rules? You show me one rule for writing and I will show you a famous author who broke it. I like Neil Gaiman’s first rule of writing- Write. (Okay, my last comment, I cannot find you a famous author who has broken that rule)
And I was going to link The Write Scene? But apparently my internet cannot find their internet. So I will leave you with those 2 sites.
Enjoy!
The Act of Method Writing May 3, 2012
Posted by mattfarmer in writing.Tags: creative writing, Matt Farmer, Matthew Farmer, writing inspiration
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You have all heard of method acting. If an actor needs to portray an emotion in a scene, and they need to sell the emotion, make it believable, then that actor remembers a time when they felt that particular emotion. They put themselves into that head space, relive that emotion as vividly as they can, and then bring it out into their performance.
The same method can and should be used when writing. Sure, I don’t know what it is like to be in a sword fight, battle dragons or fly a spaceship, but those things are decorations hung upon the characters; shiny baubles that a character who has invested emotions, uses to complete, stuff. Awesome spaceships and sword fights are not what should grab the reader by the mind and heart and hook them into your world. Unless that space ship is the Millenium Falcon, and the sword fight is from The Princess Bride.
While no story is original any more, and if you break every story and movie down you can get to the seven basic plots, or 36 dramatic situations, or look at them from a mono-myth point of view, it is invariably the characters who keep you wanting more. I wanted to be Indiana Jones, he was so cool, suave and didn’t take not s…tuff from sword wielding bad guys. I wanted to be as hard-core as the Colonial Marines from the movie Aliens, or the nobody who done good, like Luke Skywalker, Alex Rogan or Tristan Thorn.
And in the same way, a part of me wants to be the characters in my books which I write. I invest a part of me into making the characters someone who I might want to be, so they feel more than just a cut out waiting for the token good guy or bad guy to put them down. I know some psychologist could have a field day with that admission, but I am quite sure that all the successful writers, and all of us who are not (yet) successful, and who write for the love of writing, we create worlds and characters whom we would want to be, where we would like to live and have adventures.
So then, it is the next step to give the characters and worlds you have created, that extra part of you. If you want to put the character into a situation and have it carry weight, emotional investment, if you want the reader to care as much as you, then you really do need to rip that heart off your sleeve and put it on the page for a moment.
There have been times when I have written that I am teary eyed afterwards. In my science fiction series, yet to be published, there is a scene where I kill off two characters. I do it in suitably spectacular fashion by having them trapped in a space station which crashes to the planet below, but the scene takes place inside, with just the two of them, together.
The two characters are, of course, in love. He is an ex-history professor from a prominent university. (He is named after my best friend, a little tribute I gave to to my friend, since he complained he would never be in a book or film). And she was an old student of his, now a notorious space pirate and wanted in more systems than she has fingers on her hands. But for that scene, I had her say things to him, which I never actually got to say to my friend. My friend tragically passed away, well before his time was due, suddenly and without warning. I took myself back and thought- what would I have said to him, if I had known? And so, I put that into that scene. Polished and edited, of course, but, not by much. It was the first time, I believe, that I had ever done that. Ever remembered an emotion, a time when I was in that space, and put the words onto a page. There is, of course, many things you never do get to say to someone before they pass, but in some way, I got to say a few of them in a book, which was nice.
Not many people have read that scene, and that is a deliberate thing, since it was hard for me to write. But those that have, commented to me that they too, felt the loss of the character. It stands as one of the best things I have written.
Last night I finished re-writing my novel. I made the final scene raw and emotional, people dying, fighting, surviving. It was a real head spin to write. I deliberately stayed up late, deliberately was over tired, and sick with flu, but it got me into that head space. And, it was easier this time around than last time. I could put myself into the space of someone deeply in love, someone losing a friend, someone afraid of death. All of those emotions, in the one scene. Of course, knowing I went there while writing, I hope that when it is read the reader feels the same. I hope the reader can feel the love between the two main characters. I hope they feel the loss, the fear. If they do, then that is a win for me.
I am 10 novels into my writing career, and I am just learning to not be afraid of method writing. I am learning to have the courage of putting more and more of me on to the page. It is a scary things, but I do encourage people out there to not only imagine, not only create, but to feel, when you write.
I’ll get to that later… April 26, 2012
Posted by mattfarmer in writing.Tags: copywriting, day job, Matt Farmer, Matthew Farmer, procrastination
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Hello. It is late, closing in on Midnight. I haven’t posted here for a bit, why? Because I’ll get to that later. This is a common cry heard from the Procrastinating Writer. I can hear Sir David Attenborough pointing at me, in his hushed voice saying, there he is, the Scriptor qui excusat. (Bad Latin translation).
I have been doing some professional work, writing some of my novel, getting some quality time. For instance, today is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand, a public holiday. So I did not turn my computer on until now. The only reason I did was my phone told me of some important emails. I did see The Avengers today. That was freaking cool.
And life stress keeps me away from here. Everyone has life stress, I know. Trying to be a writer, a professional writer, and making a living from it is great, but if there is no work, there is no money, and that can cause stress. Thankfully a good friend threw… wait. I was going to go into some fancy basketball symbology here, threw me an alley-oop dunk. But that’s kind of full of wank. An opportunity arose, a friend thought of me, which was great. He is one of those friends who is a bit… out there. But his heart is in the greatest place. So I have got some work, which helps. And now I am back, writing a blog, at midnight, when I have a 7am breakfast meeting. Damn…
But I have not blogged. It is something I should do, a regular communique, part of a discipline to do things on a regular basis. My fellow writers and authors do it regularly, and so should I. I will be doing a role-call of some cool blog posts I have found this week, later…. maybe… 
But, this term – I’ll get to that later, has also been a positive thing for me. There is a scene in my book which, now that I changed some previous content, holds much more weight. It is a key scene where my heroes find out what has happened in the city once they escaped. It gives a hint at the tensions between the Royalty and the big corporate bad guys, and how my two heroes are stuck in the middle. And I struggled to write it. 3 times I struggled. And this meant I was not progressing with the re-write. It was delaying me.
So, I have tagged that scene, and I am going to come back to it later. I will write the rest of the book, which I know how it goes, and then come back to it later. And when I get there, I may just ask some help from my editor. I have already had help from my first editor, writing the scene in 3 ways you shouldn’t, or wouldn’t have written it. And crazily I agreed to write a quasi-homo-erotic-suggestive-in-bed scene. And I just wanted to put all those hyphens there. She thinks that, if I put the characters in a different place, then the message may come through, and I can put the message back into the right scene. No harm in trying.
Alright, bed time now. But, on other news, I am planning on writing a regular monthly newsletter about me. I need to put some things in place, and I should be throwing it into the interverse on the 10th of May. If not, then the 10th of June. You can visit my website – www.matthewfarmer.com.au and sign up. It will be about writing, of course, since writing is my passion. What I am doing, what I can offer people who would consider hiring me to do writerly things for them. Articles of interest about writing, interviews with people involved with writing. Someone suggested reviews, such as keyboard reviews, cafe reviews, reviews of pens, in the vein of certain jocular car shows. We will see
What happens when your computer dies? April 15, 2012
Posted by mattfarmer in writing.Tags: back up your work, hard drive, Matt Farmer, Matthew Farmer, writing, writing habit
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You hear all the people saying – back up everything! And, sure, I do. I have a Dropbox for my creative work. But everything else? Hmmm. well, I copied my copy writing to an external hard drive. And i moved some pictures and stuff across. My Steam account saves all the games I’ve bought so I can download them again if I need.
But during the last week, I have had major computer issues which makes me realise just how much I SHOULD have backed up. My hard drive was failing. I thought it may have been memory, in that any web browser I had open would stop for a while and say- not responding. Same too with my email. Games had to be played in the lowest resolution. But then an IT friend told me this was due to the computer trying to access the FAT tables and not being able to? Or something? And that the hard drive was on its last legs.
Sure enough, the day after, Easter Friday, the computer failed to boot up and found many sectors unreadable. Thankfully it was still under warranty, so I had a new hard drive installed free of charge, but not until the Tuesday afterwards. As I said above, I had my creative work backed up, and I saved my copy writing work, and some images. But what did I lose? ALL of my emails. All of my photos and assorted imagery which I didn’t move across. The photos are a big loss. I just forgot to back them up. 
I lost all my collected book marks, so blogs and writing sites, copy writing inspiration sites and the like, all gone.
And no, they could not recover any data.
And then, round two of my bad luck? While re-installing Open Office, web browsers and email software, I completely forgot about anti-virus. I had some installed and running prior to the crash, and it never occurred to me that a new hard drive would mean no anti-virus! I bet you can see where this is going. I followed a Google link to the forums of my Roller Derby League, and suddenly messages were popping up telling me I had a virus, and a very infected computer and I NEEDED to install this anti-virus software! Every time I tried to launch a program, it was stopped and I was told- everything is infected!
Tried as I might, I couldn’t not clean the computer. So, I had to ring my IT support friend. He laughed at me, mocked me a little bit, which, granted, I guess I deserved. But the computer was cleaned, and I was off again. And now I have anti-virus stuff installed and running.
But my writing? Stalled. I am back into it now, but yeah, stalled.
But it was also stalled for another reason. I reached a very important conversation in my book. Someone from the city has found our heroes in the wild frontier and wants to bring them back with him. This conversation has more weight behind it now than it did in the original version, since how our heroes escaped the second time was a lot more violent. It has left the city on the verge of war. But, three times i tried to make this conversation work for me, and it just wasn’t. So, I am moving beyond it, writing the next part of the book, which is simple enough, up to the dramatic final ending. And then I will come back and work on that one scene, even get my new editor in to help suggest ways to make it work.
I am a very chronological writer. I like to know the ideas, the points in my book I have to join up to make the overall picture, and write to those points. I am not one to write all the good bits and then fill in the gaps with stuff. You have to earn the fun bits, I believe. So, this is a new thing for me, to write knowing something behind me is left undone.
On the professional front, I am in a rut. I am trying to create avenues to work and struggling. How to get yourself out to the world to say – I can write for you! Networking? Yeah, doing that. I am constructing a newsletter and asking people to sign up. Not yet though, but soon.
So, my writing challenges this week? Finish writing my novel and get it to my new editor. Get the bones of my pending newsletter, AND get a paid writing gig. I read somewhere that copy writing clients are better than gigs, because they provide ongoing work. I am working on that, but I plan, by the end of this week, to have at least one copy writing job which I will be doing.
And I plan to find some writing websites and blogs and book mark them. Just saying
How right must you be when you write? April 3, 2012
Posted by mattfarmer in writing.Tags: copywriting, Matthew Farmer, writer, writing habit
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Two, no three things, came through my email today that had me thinking. How right do you have to be as a writer? In my professional line of work I know you have to be 100% right, but in whose opinion are you right? And what parts of your writing has to be right?
The Creative Penn posted this today, or yesterday, I don’t know if my email feed is slow this week or not. The heading which jumped out at me was “Are Writers Allowed to Make Mistakes?” My second questions was – to whom are we asking this permission? A lot of good points were made in this blog post, some of which resonate with me, especially the time of writing done, see below.
The second thing which came to me today was this comic strip: ‘How to get massive amounts of comments on your article‘. I know that when I wrote a blog post with ‘zombies’ in the title, I got close to 100 hits on that post. Why? Probably because zombies were cool that week.
The third item was an email newsletter about copy writing which I received. The email was titled ‘Oh Hi There!’, and the first paragraph was this:
“I wanted to make the header “O hai,” but I wasn’t sure you were into LOLcats. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a link: http://tinyurl.com/2vmp9g )“
All three examples show different ways that writers can be ‘wrong’, one deliberately, one contextually. But, with the purpose they are trying to convey, are they in fact ‘wrong’?
Two recent examples of my professional work have made me think about this question. One was three revisions of a website, to which eventually it turned out that all was needed was for the client to find their voice, and for me to edit it and polish it up, rather than take their voice and make it sound how I thought they wanted it to sound. The first two drafts I produced were not wrong, from my point of view. It was clean copy, it said what they wanted to say, it was laid out in the style their web graphics designer had presented them. It had key words for SEO and Google tracking. The second draft had the same text but more information about the client as a person, to give weight to their years of experience. But the flavour was not there. So the 3rd and final time was the win, with their words, some punctuation and grammar checking. I used the two free revisions term in my contract with this client. But, we got to where we wanted it to be, where the CLIENT wanted it to be.
So, was I wrong, with my first two attempts?
Another example, and one which makes me kick myself, was a recent tender writing task I had. It was due on a Tuesday, so I had everything completed by the Monday and sent off. I go off to play basketball and arrive home at 10pm to find an email requesting a table of contents, and to please have it to us by first thing in the morning. Here I was, tired and sore (I tend to play rough basketball. Hey, you play until they blow the whistle and THEN call the foul…), late at night. And I was about to work on an important document. My support staff were awesome, and did a quick supply run for flavoured milk and cookies while I showered and prepared myself. I had the table of contents finished and looking good, and emailed it to them at 1am in the morning.
I forgot to actually number the pages in the footer. A tiny detail I know, and I am still kicking myself over, even now. But, is it okay to say- it was a surprise request for work, late on a Monday night with a very tight deadline, and I was all tired and post-basketball? Is it okay that I produced an awesome table of contents but just forgot that one little thing? (That one thing which I guarantee I will never forget again).
With my fiction, there is a lot more wriggle room for the concept of right. The story and the idea? That can be, improved, honed, sharpened up. I have some excellent writing friends who help with that process, coming at my work from a Joseph Campbell point of view, a sci-fi fantasy geek girl point of view, a slush-pile editor point of view. I am absolutely appreciative of their harsh but fair critiques.
But at the next stage of copy editing and line editing, why do these tasks exist? Shouldn’t the writer be the expert at this? Do you not need an understanding of grammar and punctuation, language and sentence structure to actually write? So, it is okay to be wrong in certain areas because the editors will pick it up anyway?
I know the theory of being close to your work and not being able to see everything. That advice experts give about putting your manuscript away for a month so you can come back to it with fresh eyes is great, but it is still going to go through an editor, eyes and mind that did not conceive the book or the idea.
At this point, I am making my writing the best it can be. I am producing, for my clients, the best that I can, what I think is good copy. It is only after the fact you find out how wrong or right it is, and then, that is a subjective view as well. Isn’t it?
When a ‘day off’ writing means writing my novel March 28, 2012
Posted by mattfarmer in Copy writing, writing.Tags: casual writing friday, copywriting, day job, Matthew Farmer, steam punk
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I was joking around yesterday saying – hey! I have a day off writing! I am going to do my novel! It was all funny, until I thought – no that is the wrong way of thinking about my novel. It is not something I put aside for downtime, or casual writing Fridays. It is a piece of writing which deserves its own importance along with the rest of my collective workings.
The reason I felt like this, however, was after week of writing a tender for a furniture company, it felt easier to sit in the realm of fiction writing. Don’t get me wrong, I loved doing the tender writing gig. I literally spent 10 hours writing on Tuesday last week. I had emails and discussions going back and forth with the client, with re-writes, additions, and such. I was even working on the weekend to get my BNI Newsletter out. I also arrived home on Monday night, after a terrible game of basketball, to find an email requesting a complete table of contents and that they needed the document first thing in the morning, Tuesday.
It was a lot of work, and work I enjoyed. I don’t think I have worked that hard, as a writer, for a long time. I am now holding my writer’s breath until May, I think, to when the Tender results are in. That will be a measure of how successful I was in my efforts. Not the only measure, since I stuck to the task, wrote a lot of hours and got the job done, on time and as the client requested.
I got a few thousand words out with my novel though. It felt good. I had left it for a week, and I was feeling a little guilty, but it was nice to know it was still waiting for me. Strange language to use, I know, but sometimes, when you leave a piece of writing for too long, it can seem like a stranger to you and you have to read it again, to get to know it, before you can engage with it again.
I have had to find another editor today. My previous editor has now become unavailable. Good luck to her I say. My new editor works for lollipops, free books and the chance to pick my brain. I think she is getting the better half of this deal.
I am at the final part of the story now. Re-writing has been a positive experience for me. I have been merciless in the cutting of chaff. Two pages explaining a dead character’s history and family? GONE! Physical comedy about waking up and banging your head on the side of the boat? GONE! Long conversation about motives for being in Thunderfall? HALF GONE! And while I love a bit of fluff, I can see the story is actually moving along at a faster pace, a better pace. This is good. I am building a better book, rather than just changing words in the story as I rewrite.
What’s in a genre? What’s in a name? March 18, 2012
Posted by mattfarmer in Uncategorized, writing.Tags: genre, Matt Farmer, Matthew Farmer, Smashwords, steam punk, steampunk
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I have been receiving positive reviews this week. Two people posted reviews in Smashwords, I received a comment from a friend through email, which was funny and honest:
“I will admit to starting to read the book out of ‘politeness’ (I said I would, so I was) and I really got into it. Don’t tell me that I have to wait for the rest (I was intolerable when the Lord of the Rings trilogy came out – I had to wait a *whole* year to see the next instalment!!! Now the Hobbit looks like it is going to do the same thing – Agggggg!!!!)
You should be really proud of your book – It is definitely publishable material (in my humble opinion!). Try to remember us little people when you get famous “
And I was chatting to my old university and writing friend, online, about the book. She is notorious for wielding the red pen with abandon on my work. And while she says there are some niggles still there for her (it wouldn’t be her if it she told me it was utterly perfect), she was extremely happy with what I produced from the original. It read clearer, motivations for characters were clearer and stronger.
However we did get into a discussion as to if my story was true steampunk or not. I say it is magical steampunk, but when it comes to categorising, that doesn’t fit too well. ‘TRUE’ steampunk…. is it Victoriana? Gentlemen in suits with top hats and ray guns, riding steam-powered machinery, with their ladies by their side, silken gloves, corsets and ray guns as well? Or is it the wild west frontier, of an alternate history, with automaton horses, ankle length coats, cowboy hats and goggles and six shooters with dials and gauges stuck on the side?
I have mentioned before that I like the genre of steam punk as it is new and emerging and can encompass so many different things. And yet, it seems those differences which makes other people claim- no that is not steam punk.
My friend and I settled on the term magitech. I like that word. It tells you there’s magic and there’s technology and somehow they are linked. However, it’s not a term people would go searching for, and hence that may impact on sales. So while I agree my book could lean towards this new word, I have labelled it ‘steampunk’ because that is what people will search for.
I do not think this is me selling out. It is going to be hard enough to point people in the direction of my book when it goes on sale. I don’t want to further hamper those efforts by calling it something that not many people have heard of before. Now, when I become popular and well known and people begin to buy my books because of my name, then I will have no problem saying it is colourist theory futuristic interior design retro punk. A new genre! As long as it is a strong story no one will really care what genre I call it. They will be searching for my NAME, not a genre.
Case in point. ‘Perdido Street Station‘. When I first encountered this book I did not know what steampunk was, not really. I had heard rumours. But I was told this book was really good steampunk. So I read a book which had artificial intelligent junkyard robots, remade prisoners blended with machinery, often in twisted and horrible ways. I read a story about weird and wonderful creatures, an insect-headed woman having a perfectly normal relationship with a human. A blend of magic and technology. And I loved it.
And then I find out that it is not ‘true’ steampunk because it doesn’t have a Victorian feel to it, or is not set in the new west. There is a lot of internet rage over this, and it is rage I am going to avoid. I have heard this book described as ‘urban-gothic’, ‘dark urban fantasy’, ‘weird fiction’ and ‘science-fantasy’. So which box of genres does it go? Or has it created its own new box?
I know that genres were originally invented so book stores knew where on the shelf to place their books, and how to point customers to them. And this idea of genre has become a part of us over the years. Think of this scene- a man about to go to work, is in a diner having coffee and pan cakes. He has been flirting with the waitress for a few weeks now. She knows it too, and she thinks he is cute. This time as she hands him the bill, she puts her number on the ticket and gives it a kiss, leaving lip stick marks. So, this is a romance story, yes? Boy meets girl and romance ensues? It would go there on the shelf with other romance novels.
The next scene shows the man stepping into a mining vessel and launching out to mine the ice rings of a gas giant planet in a far away in a binary star system on the edge of human settled space. Now it is science fiction, and goes on another shelf. Even if this mining ice thing is a just a small part of the story, and it focuses on the building relationship between these two people and the trials and tribulations they have, this book is now science fiction. Because it has space ships.
I accept the need for genres. It gives the book an anchor, a starting point from which to grow. When I started to write ‘The Girl From Out of Town’ I said to myself that I wanted to write a steampunk novel. And while I stuck to some conventions- the mechanical golems are powered by steam, there are sky ships which also have steam engines to power jets, the story which grew naturally, had dragons in it. It had magic in it. It was set in my own created world. It had dimensional travel and demons in it. And yet I still consider it steampunk, although now I may be leaning towards magitech.
But Steampunk works for now. People can search for it and go from there. It is a good STORY, which is what it should be first and foremost.
Act 2 re-written and being reviewed March 10, 2012
Posted by mattfarmer in writing.Tags: creative writing, Smashwords, The Girl From Out of Town, writing inspiration; reading inspiration;
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I has been a full-on week for me. Novel work, copy writing work, an education about what happens when a client isn’t happy. All good stuff really.
I finished Act 2 re-write this week. It felt more like a first draft, maybe version 1.2, rather than a full version 2.0. Some tweaks to the plot and story in Act 1 flowed through to Act 2. My main characters (Oh! I can name them now! You all have downloaded Act 1, so you know who I am talking about!), Navarr and Mizzell no longer pay their way on board and are chummy with everyone. As you know , they fell on to the ship, well, you don’t know that, but hey, it isn’t such a huge spoiler. So, they are not automatically chummy with the crew. But, through their actions, particularly Navarr, they become friends with a few of them.
This is important since it is Navarr’s journey I need to focus on. It is his development as a character, going from meek little office boy to a man of the world, with a woman! Just a little bit of cheese cake there.
Another piece of advice I followed was not introducing so many characters. I know who all the weird and wonderful characters are, I invented them, I found imagery to best represent them, I wrote down some details for them, all for me. So I know them all. But as a reader, another name can over load the brain. Hard to keep track of the main story elements if you need to remember all those names. I know that when I read epic fantasies, such as Feist’s Magician, and the Game of Thrones, having to reference that glossary of names at the back, takes me OUT of the story.
So it was good to get Act 2 in the bag, for a brief while at least. I will get it back in a week with ‘suggestions’, I know it. It also gives me a good idea on the time line. I might have to push the full release date back a bit, but this is okay. I have a plan and there is a time critical element that I cannot control. And yes, I am being very vague here.
The Creative Penn released a blog post back on the 4th of March- The 7 Worst Mistakes of Indie Authors and How to Fix Them. I am keeping a keen eye on anything which talks about indie authors of late. A friend of mine, Catherine Gracey, blogged about how our friend Scarlett and myself, have been inspiring her on her journey of being an author – blog poster here. It is fantastic to know I am inspiring a fellow writer to rethink her journey. I am finding that is it a very supportive group of people I am getting involved with. Catherine and Scarlett are there to bounce ideas off, and to edit. I throw thoughts at Sarah Billington who is much farther down this indie publishing route than all of us, and yet is quite open and friendly for chats. I throw shout outs to these people where I can, and in return they share the love back. It is great.
So, back to the Creative Penn. They say it is best to learn from the mistakes of others, so I read this article with a keen eye to my own progress. I will address all seven items in this list for you all.
1. Know myself? What am I doing? Why am I doing this? I consider writing to be my best talent. It is what I am best at. Now, I can be great at customer service or communication or knowing the rules of basketball and blowing my whistle, but writing is something I enjoy and something I am good at. It is why after so many years I have leapt before I looked into the world of freelance copy writing. It is also why I am self-publishing a novel. I have said for a long time that I wanted to be a published author. I have said for a long time that – I will just re-write this and then send it off for publication, without actually doing anything with it. Hello, I have a 5 book epic sci fi series sitting there wanting love… So, for number 1? I am doing it, not to make money, but to get it out there. So many people want to read my work, so I want them to read it too. I am also really enjoying taking my writing seriously. Marketing myself, getting an ISBN, a cover artist, real editing from friends. I can make some pocket money off it, sure, but the whole process is fun and exciting for me.
2. Being a writer, being involved with NANOWRIMO, I know professional editors. And, I have asked that they don’t be nice to me because we’re friends. I have even offered payment. Of course there have been ‘mates rates’, but it is legitimate. It feels good to say- I had a meeting with my editor today. It is also good to get a fresh set of eyes on the manuscript.
3. As I have shown you all in earlier blogs, Scarlett Rugers designs has done a fantastic job in designing my book cover and additional web banner advertising. Another sign I am taking this seriously. I could have scoured free photo sites and mocked something up, but I doubt I could have achieved anything like what Scarlett has.
4. This is why I am only doing e-publishing first off. It is cheaper for me and I don’t have to have a pile of books in storage waiting for sales. I would love to have books, in hand, which I could sell and sign and give to people. It is something I will consider, but yes, did not chose the print then sell path purely for this reason.
5. The cover design was part of a Nanowrimo promotion. Smashwords is free, the editing I can pay for in chocolate. I am definitely all over number 5.
6. My marketing for the free Act 1 release included emailing my friends, flooding facebook, to my friends and asking them to tell their friends. Posting on my blog and twitter, and again, getting my friends to re-tweet. A web banner on the bottom of my email and sticking the web banners wherever I could. Very little marketing for the free download.
7. Well, I am focused on this one book, currently, because it is the current book I am writing. I already have book titles for the other two books in the series, and I have a vague story arc, so there will be a trilogy. Hoping 2nd book in the same year, but possibly 1 book a year. It depends how much I can cram into my life and earn money.
And now I would like to leave you with a quote from a friend who read my book. I like it. It is honest and positive and amusing:
“I will admit to starting to read the book out of ‘politeness’ (I said I would, so I was) and I really got into it. Don’t tell me that I have to wait for the rest (I was intolerable when the Lord of the Rings trilogy came out – I had to wait a *whole* year to see the next instalment!!! Now the Hobbit looks like it is going to do the same thing – Agggggg!!!!)
“2 Weeks in and counting. March 3, 2012
Posted by mattfarmer in writing.Tags: Matthew Farmer, novel, Smashwords
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Good morning! Didn’t get to my blog during the week. I actually had a busy week. This is both good and bad for me. Busy in that it was worky work writing, bad because I have been craving getting my teeth into my novel.
Monday I went and met with a talent agency. I thought to fill in the time between freelance gigs with some TV and Film extra work. But they wanted a large sum of money to register me with no guarantee of work. While I like the idea of being an extra, I currently don’t have wads of cash to throw around. Later perhaps.
Tuesday was meetings with people. I have joined a group of business people who help each other with business related problems. I know mine is currently getting myself out there to get business, but I know my problem and I am currently working my way through some solutions, so I am just sitting and helping others for the moment.
That meeting lead on to another meeting with an awesome business coach. We chatted for well over an hour on some strategies for me and the business of writing. I never really thought business or life coaches would be my thing. I have some very good people in my life to help me and tell me off when I am being silly. But business coaches? A very cool idea in my opinion.
Wednesday was a three-hour meeting with a graphic designer. A guy who has been in the business for over thirty years? He is the first person from my networking group who has said to me that my writing is not up to standard. I was taken a back, and hurt, of course. It may be copy writing but it is something I create. It’s a natural reaction to think- you don’t like it? OH NO! But, he went on to say what he didn’t like, how the start of some things I wrote did not grab the reader, did not pull the customer in with WOW AWESOME copy. The bulk of the work was good, it’s just the start was not punchy enough. He is kindly going to help me improve myself as a copy writer in business. I like this, I appreciate him giving me the time to semi-mentor me? But I can also see he is building me up to work for him as well. He wants to improve me for his own ends as well. I don’t mind. I am humble enough to want to improve myself and admit that, while I am a good writer, the business side of things, may need some beating of panels.
Thursday rolled around with BNI and meeting with a client for web work. This continued into Friday as well, with the weekly BNI newsletter to produce. So, very little time to squeeze in novel writing.
But, being the stubborn person I am, squeeze it in I did. An hour here, a few minutes there. I have written past the pit fights, so I am near the end of Act 2. I had a dilemma with the pit fights. I was in a head space where I just wanted to kill someone, in the books I mean. I thought – wouldn’t it be shocking and cool if the fights were to the death. That would give an added sense of tension when one of the characters chooses to fight in order to save my main characters. But upon speaking with my editors, they asked me – what benefit to the story would it be? What would turning the fights into death matched add to the story? I couldn’t really answer that. And then someone else said they would not want to read a book where women were fighting and killing each other. So I let it sit for a day and came back in a better head space, and left the fighting to submission, not to the death.
And just to finish up, before I start my weekend. I cracked 200+ downloads for the free Act 1 on Smashwords this week. That is so cool. I am planning, with others, how to market the full book when it comes time for release. And to see 200 downloads with very little marketing is so encouraging. I have had no feedback though. No one has left a review, or told me if they like it or not. I hope they’re not just being nice….
Interview with Cover Artist & Graphic Designer- Scarlett Rugers February 22, 2012
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You have all seen, by now, the wonderful cover for my debut book. It was designed by a friend of mine- Scarlett Rugers, from Scarlett Rugers Design. I interviewed her, briefly, and wanted to share her words with you all.
1. When you hear the word ‘Steampunk’ what comes to mind?
Cogs and wheels and goggles. I have a love-hate relationship. It’s such a beautiful genre, and yet so easily pigeon-holed. Having said that I haven’t exposed myself to a lot of Steampunk literature so maybe I should to see how far and wide the genre spreads. I hope it’s a field that continues to evolve.
2. How did this impression of ‘Steampunk’, which you have, influence the cover design of my book?
I wanted to try something new that still gave the sense of Steampunk without the ‘cogs, wheels and goggles’. To get out of that stereotype without shedding its identity. I resourced things like typography, use of colour, atmosphere and textures to try and bring it together.
3. What was the process involved in this cover? In other covers you have designed?
If you have a book- I want to read it. The whole reason I’m in this field is to interpret to the best of my abilities the most wonderful cover for your story. To give a whisper of what it’s about but still keep it a secret until the first pages. While I’m reading you’re filling out my questionnaire which tells me what you want for your cover!
After reading it I brainstorm. I get familiar with the styles of other books/designs in the same genre. I look at the standards and the covers that have broken all the rules. I gather ideas and pick the best ones and pitch them to you. When you find out which works best for you the next step is resourcing images (if necessary), or fonts. Bringing it all together digitally and then sending it to you for your feedback.
It’s a bit of back and forthing to get the cover just right. If you’ve decided to go with a front and back for the book then we move on to the blurb (which you provide me) and any other bio info etc. After that it’s all up to you to publish it!
4. What is it about you and your cover designs which can set you apart from the rest, and would be a great advantage to other authors out there?
You’re a writer, I’m a writer. That’s the first difference. I’ve been writing over fifteen years now and designing for six which gives me that insight in to what the author really wants. I can draw from the writer’s perspective and unite it with a designer’s eye.
Secondly I’m passionate. I have a deep love for book design and take great pride in my work. I feel my work speaks for itself and looks professional; the feedback I’ve received is that it’s the quality you would see in a book store and I think that makes all the difference. The quality of the work produced and the intimate details that I go through with my clients to ensure they get exactly what they want.
5. Do you have a favourite genre you like to design covers for?
I’d have to say no because each book has its own personality. Each story is a new discovery, a new adventure. I love trying new things so when my clients give me the opportunity and flexibility to try out different concepts it really excites me! I approach each book individually and recognise it for its strengths, and uniqueness.
6. For an aspiring indie author, what else can you offer them besides a book cover?
Encouragement! I know what it’s like to be hesitant to approach someone to ask for work, and you don’t really know what to expect. It ads a level of anxiety that isn’t needed at all. I’m very patient and open, and I don’t expect you to know how it all works. I know you’ve worked hard to come this far and I’m here to support you and give you that last leg up before the final leap in to publishing.
Product wise? I offer additions like Facebook Banners and website banners to promote your book. It’s always nice to be able to spread the word of the good news- you’re now published! Separate to book covers I design websites, business cards, stationary, brochures, posters, or anything else you need designed.
7. Do you have some favourite book covers out there? DO have a favourite book cover artist?
One of my favourite covers was the editions of Stephen King’s The Dome. There is one edition that has profile images of particular characters looking up. I also love the mainstream cover of the huge dome and the plane crashing in to it over the town.
http://thewitcontinuum.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/stephen-king-under-the-dome.jpg
http://www.fixabook.com/wp-content/gallery/covers/under-the-dome.png
I also absolutely love the series of books designed for Vladimir Nabokov, designed like glass boxes:
http://bookcoverarchive.com/Vladimir_Nabokov
As for designers there aren’t any specific book cover artists that I adore. It’s more a great use of typography is something that attracts me, or beautiful photography. I’m totally addicted to http://bookcoverarchive.com!
9. Where can people find you to enlist your services?
Scarlett Rugers (writing as Scarlett Archer) has just released a book 1001 First Lines which is now available at Amazon! You can purchase a paperback, .lit, .epub, .mobi and PDF versions here: http://www.1001firstlines.wordpress.com.
She has been writing for over fifteen years, completed over eleven novels, and her main drive is in speculative fiction or its contrasting opposite romantic comedic novels. She has a passion for studying the art of story telling and is a grand lover of movies. Her focus in work is book cover designs which enables her to put all her energy in to the area she loves most- literature. You can get in touch with her about getting a book cover designed for you at http://www.booksat.scarlettrugers.com
mattfarmer
National Novel Writing Month
