tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9615754871651329752024-03-14T02:17:29.022+11:00100 First Drafts - Becoming a Prolific WriterThe tips and tricks learnt from accepting the challenge to write 100 first drafts.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.comBlogger210125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-87333131919965912152015-02-09T23:39:00.000+11:002015-02-09T23:39:27.167+11:00Sorry. How do you start a blog post after about 6 months away?<br />
<br />
Um, I'm back?<br />
<br />
It's as good a start as any, and I think the coming back is the most important part. <br />
<br />
<br />
I've finally moved into my own little place (which is neither my own as I a) rent it and b) share it with my brother and soon another house mate, and not little considering where I was before, but it sounds poetic). The big advantage of this place - for the blog at least - Unlimited, fast, cable internet which doesn't block my own website (problems of living at a school)!<br />
<br />
So, I am determined to become faithful again with my blogging.<br />
<br />
Just to catch up on the writing side:<br />
- Finished the initial edit of Virtually Ideal, where I outlined all the changes I needed to make.<br />
- Am now up to Episode 4 of making those changes, only another 8 episodes to go!<br />
- I spent a large part of my holiday writing a boarding manual for work, which was fun and interesting, but took up way more time than I thought it would. (I had initally offered just to edit it and do the layout, but as I was going through I realised it needed quite a bit more in there. So I took it from basically a 10 page document to a 100 page one. Whoops. But they kept nearly all of it, which is cool.)<br />
- I got A Little Bit Of Leaven ready to publish on Amazon, and just before I did my grandparents told me they would really love it to be published by the Scottish magazine 'The People's Friend'. Ok, that's fine, I can do that. Oh, wait, their submission guidelines say they take serials of up to 50,000 words or pocket novels of up to 40,000, and our manuscript is currently 80,000. Oh, right.<br />
So started my epic adventure to try to cut a manuscript down by about half. And you thought Stephen King's 10% requirement was harsh. I don't know if I'll be able to do it, but it is making a much tighter book, with nothing that's not directly related to moving the story forward. I'm currently up to chapter 3, I think.<br />
- I've started a blog for my boarding girls/parents. I hope to update it every few days, but will rely on photos being worth a thousand words quite often. <br />
<br />
So that's all my writing since I last saw you.<br />
<br />
My goals this year:<br />
I'm moving away from the draft every two weeks to actually do some indepth, hard core editing. You learn a lot about writing by doing good editing, which will hopefully mean that my future first drafts will require less work.<br />
I have three projects in mind at the moment:<br />
1. Cut A Little Bit of Leaven down by as much as I can, then submit to The People's Friend.<br />
2. Finish two more edits of Virtually Ideal (major changes in place + final beautifying polish) and publish it episode by episode.<br />
3. Re-work Sally Hunt Book 1 with all my new found knowledge and try again for an agent/publisher.<br />
<br />
As always, I'm torn between projects, always wanting to jump from one to the other. I had settled that I would work on A Little Bit of Leaven, but then one of my girls has been reading the first few episodes of Virtually Ideal for me, and came up the other night demanding the next one. I gave it to her, and she's already halfway through it, and the one after that isn't ready! So I feel I should push ahead on that. So many choices!<br />
Though, in the end it doesn't really matter which one I work on as long as I keep working! I have not been writing nearly as much over the past few months as I wanted to, and now I'm going to turn that around. Writing is back to being one of my top priorities.<br />
<br />
So, don't have an official goal, except to write something most days. I'll start with that and see where I go. Oh, and I want to get back into reading about writing again. That's gone by the way side.<br />
<br />
See you soon.<br />
<br />
Buffy. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-29353368128823509882014-08-21T22:22:00.001+10:002014-08-21T22:22:30.286+10:00Tackling the Unwieldy TaskVirtuall Ideal is done.<br />
Well, that is to say, the first draft is complete.<br />
That is to say, I have most of the story, from one end to the other, 15 episodes, 200,000 words, even though I've changed bits part way through and know I have to chop/add scenes.<br />
<br />
Now I just have to sit down with this behemoth and force it into some sort of order. I need to pull apart each scene like individual pieces of lego; line them up, discarding the unsightly ones and straighten out the ones that have accidentally been bent out of shape. Then I can start to rebuild my masterpiece.<br />
<br />
Moving away from my lego metaphor, I then need to place each scene under the microscope, peer into its very cellular make up, to make sure it is perfect, that it is adding to my masterpiece, not detracting. A healthy, life giving scene, not a cancerous, death bringing one.<br />
<br />
And that is pretty much why I haven't done anything on the manuscript since I finished the first draft. I'm scared. I'm overwhelmed by the sheer size of the project. My mind becomes blank in panic as I think of making that first dissection.<br />
<br />
I have brained stormed. Written out nice to do lists. Given myself deadlines. And yet, still for 21 days I've done nothing. Well, that's not completely true. I've tried a lot of the great advice that I've given others; I've listened to podcasts, I've read books, I've sat down at my computer, only to get up a few minutes later.<br />
<br />
Alone and by myself I could not get anywhere.<br />
<br />
Then last night I was talking with a friend over sugar-free hot chocolate (yes, San Churro makes such a thing, and it's delicious. As long as you don't burn your tongue on the first sip) and he asked me how I was going with the story. So I started talking. And then I continued talking. And then I talked some more. And he very kindly asked intelligent questions such as: but why did that character do that? And what made that male unsuitable? The more I talked about it, the more excited I got, and the more I wanted to fix it up. I wanted to get it ready for other people to read, so that they could enjoy what I've already had fun with. Also, as I talked I realised that I couldn't just leave Laurie in the mess I've created. She deserves to have her story written out well. <br />
<br />
So tomorrow I aim to summarise on the Scrivener cards each of the scenes. Well, start at least, I must have close to 100 scenes. Once I have that, I'm going to rearrange them and put in blanks to show me what new scenes I need to write.Then it will be onto the internal scene analysis.<br />
<br />
Step one is worked out. And now that I've told you all, I have added incentive to do it.<br />
<br />
So thank you.<br />
<br />
Tune back in to find out if I've done.<br />
<br />
Or, if you sign up to receive this as an email (see top left hand side bar), then you'll be automatically updated. Nifty, huh?<br />
<br />
Anyone else have good advice on how to push yourself into an unpleasantly large task? Taking into account I've given up refined sugar so can't bribe myself with chocolate?<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-39886751258815584542014-07-21T18:47:00.001+10:002014-07-21T18:47:10.979+10:00Writing Realities: The Truth About Self-Publishing Book Sales
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Business Graph" src="http://www.freeimages.com/assets/183385/1833841219/business-graph-1415055-m.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Image courtesy of Sheela2010 at Free Images</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I've decided to
address the elephant in the room for most of those interested in
self-publishing: book sales. The rumours around self-publishing sales range from
the extreme of those who published a book and the next morning woke up to find
$10,000 in their account to the thought that self-publishers only have their
family buy their books. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">To give you a real insight into average self-published book sales, I'm going to show you mine. (Yes, it is as scary for me as it is for you). Each month I'll do a post on the sales for that month. I will detail it all; the number sold
across different platforms (Amazon, Createspace, Smashwords), gross sales and net sales (ie. my percentage). I want to give you an account of the reality
of being self-published, while also showing useful info such as which platforms
have performed well for me. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Today I'm going to
detail out my book sales so far, from my first ebook released in 2013. All figures are taken from vook.com
which tracks my sales for me across the various platforms (except in person
sales). Please note that the most recent sales are not always up to date as vook does take a while to register some. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">At the moment I
consider myself a very good indication of what an average person can expect.
Before bringing out my first book I had no platform, and I have not done
any particular feats of marketing or had any unlikely occurrences of good
fortune. Everything I have is totally achievable by other people. And hopefully over the months and years my sales will support my thesis that all it takes to make it in self-publishing is to continue producing quality content. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The Five Day Writer's Retreat:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My first book, <i>The
Five Day Writer's Retreat</i>, initially came out as an ebook on my birthday 10<sup>th</sup>
March 2013 (though I used it as a sign up gift for my email for the first few months) and the print on demand version came out the week of the 29<sup>th</sup>
September, 2013. All sales are until 20<sup>th</sup> July 2014. Below is a table with a summary of all sales in this period across the platforms, followed by a week by week break up (leaving out weeks where there were no sales). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Price of the book has
changed over the time, and those registering sales with no gross are free
promotions.<i> </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>
</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Summary:</span></i></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left; width: 418px;">
<thead>
<tr style="height: 22.65pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Retailer</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Unit Sales</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Gross Sales</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Net Sales</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Amazon Kindle </span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">23</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$146.18</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$85.62</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">CreateSpace POD </span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">16</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$160.08</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$44.61</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Smashwords </span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">15</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$11.14</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$7.81</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22.65pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Total:</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">54</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$317.40</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.65pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$138.0</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Now to look at how these sales have trickled in over the weeks. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Individual Weeks'
Sales:</span></i></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left; width: 375px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">week</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">retailer</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">units</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">gross</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">net</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">28/07/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">40.27</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">14.09</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">28/07/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">smashwords</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6.19</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4.84</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">25/08/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.84</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6.8</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">29/09/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">15.55</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">10.76</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">29/09/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">30.11</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">8.88</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">27/10/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">10.07</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">5.27</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">27/10/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3.13</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">27/10/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">smashwords</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">24/11/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">20.64</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">14.27</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">24/11/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">19.9</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4.27</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">29/12/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">10.38</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">7.18</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">29/12/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3.13</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">26/01/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">14.85</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">10.26</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">26/01/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3.13</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">23/02/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.9</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6.84</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 16;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">30/03/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">14.68</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">10.15</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 17;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">30/03/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1.14</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 18;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">27/04/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">smashwords</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2.97</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 19;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">18/05/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3.13</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 20;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">25/05/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">40.42</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">11.54</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 21;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1/06/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3.13</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 22; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">29/06/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3.13</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">On top of this I've
sold 8 copies in person, for a gross total of $120, and a net sale of about $80
(don't have those exact figures on me). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Of all these sales,
none of them were to my family who staunchly refused to buy my non-fiction
(except for my wonderful brother and uncle who bought the very first ebook copies). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As you can see, even
with a small/non-existent launch, the beauty of self-publishing is that books
can continue to sell. </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Since July 2013 I've sold a few copies every month.</span> A traditional publisher would take this book off the shelves after a year, and that would be the end of its run. I, on the other hand, will keep it there for years to come, slowly building its audience and writing more in the series. With each new book I bring out, my other sales spike a bit. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The Nice Guy's Guide To Online Dating Profiles</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The second book I
brought out first as an ebook in November, and then as a paperback in February.
It has only been added to Smashwords in the past few weeks, having been locked
into the Kindle Select Program prior to this. Please note the large Amazon sale
numbers include free promotions, so see the dollar figures for how many paid copies were sold. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Summary:</span></i></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left; width: 400px;">
<thead>
<tr style="height: 21.45pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Retailer</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Unit Sales</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Gross Sales</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Net Sales</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 22.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="height: 22.25pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Amazon Kindle </span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.25pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">217</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.25pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$36.08</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.25pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$24.98</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 21.45pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">CreateSpace POD </span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$10.10</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$2.49</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 22.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="height: 22.25pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Smashwords </span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.25pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.25pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$0.00</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 22.25pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$0.00</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 21.45pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Total:</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">218</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$46.18</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 21.45pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$27.4</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Individual Weeks' Sales:</span></i></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left; width: 375px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">week</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">retailer</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">units</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">gross</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">net</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">24/11/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">80</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">29/12/13</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">29</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">10.03</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6.98</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">26/01/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">5.98</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4.12</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">23/02/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">100</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">23/02/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">10.1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2.49</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">30/03/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6.03</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4.18</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4/05/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3.07</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2.12</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">11/05/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0.99</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0.66</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">22/06/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2.99</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2.06</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6/07/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.55pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.65pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6.99</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4.86</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">After The Winter</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My first fiction book
came out at the end of April, and is yet to be loaded onto Smashwords (end of
this month it comes off Amazon KDP select). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Summary:</span></i></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left; width: 400px;">
<thead>
<tr style="height: 19.95pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Retailer</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Unit Sales</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Gross Sales</span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Net Sales</span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 19.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="height: 19.2pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Amazon Kindle </span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.2pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">24</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.2pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$111.76</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.2pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$76.98</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19.95pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">CreateSpace POD </span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">8</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$103.60</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$30.24</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="height: 19.2pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Smashwords </span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.2pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">0</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.2pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$0.00</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.2pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$0.00</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19.95pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Total:</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">32</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$215.36</span></div>
</td>
<td style="height: 19.95pt; padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">$107.2</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> I've also sold 2 copies in person. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Individual Weeks' Breakup:</span></i></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left; width: 375px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">week</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">retailer</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">units</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">gross</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">net</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">27/04/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">44.62</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">30.74</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">27/04/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">51.8</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">15.12</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4/05/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3.41</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4/05/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">createspacepod</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">51.8</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">15.12</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">18/05/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">2</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">9.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6.87</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">25/05/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">25.83</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">17.75</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1/06/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">14.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">10.3</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">22/06/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4.95</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">3.41</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 74.2pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6/07/14</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 80.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="80">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">amazonkindle</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">1</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">6.51</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 13.0pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 73.6pt;" valign="bottom" width="74">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">4.5</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">For the time it's been
out, this has been the best seller, but that was largely because I had built up my audience in the six months
between my first book and it. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Overall Performance:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sales for all my books (including the kindle version of my Dad's book Colostrum which I published) look like this:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<table style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><thead>
<tr class="secondary"><th class="text-left">Retailer</th>
<th class="text-right">Unit Sales</th>
<th class="text-right">Gross Sales</th>
<th class="text-right">Net Sales</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr data-id="21">
<td class="text-left"> Amazon Kindle </td>
<td class="text-right">365</td>
<td class="text-right">$304.83</td>
<td class="text-right">$194.75</td>
</tr>
<tr data-id="8">
<td class="text-left"> CreateSpace POD </td>
<td class="text-right">25</td>
<td class="text-right">$273.78</td>
<td class="text-right">$77.34</td>
</tr>
<tr data-id="18">
<td class="text-left"> Smashwords </td>
<td class="text-right">17</td>
<td class="text-right">$11.14</td>
<td class="text-right">$7.81</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
<tfoot>
<tr>
<td class="text-left"><b>Total:</b></td>
<td class="text-right"><b>407</b></td>
<td class="text-right"><b>$589.75</b></td>
<td class="text-right"><b>
$279.90
</b></td></tr>
</tfoot></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><b>Thoughts:</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">It is interesting to
note that both <i>The Five Day Writer's Retreat</i> and <i>After The Winter </i>have made
significant sales with POD, while for <i>The Nice Guy's Guide To Online Dating</i> it
probably wasn't worth putting in the effort to create the paper back (except
for the value of having copies I can hold up and call my own, which should not
be underestimated). It is something to consider when publishing your own books. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So far Amazon has been my best platform (though only <i>The Five Day Writer</i> has been available on both the whole time). However, as it takes little effort to load it onto Smashwords (once you know what to do), I see any extra sales on this platform as an added bonus. Therefore, I will continue to upload on both. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"></span><br /><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><b>Conclusion:</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I hope this series
gives you some insight into the realities of self-publishing. It is a very slow
way to succeed, compared to a publisher offering you an advance for thousands
of dollars. However, unlike traditional publishing you don't have to make it in
the first year. At any point in the future I can re-promote these books and
increase their sales. For now I want to get more content out there. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I hope this hasn't put you off self-publishing! There are people out there doing much better, either because: a) they have a larger platform (people ready to buy their books when they first come out) or b) they have more books out there. These are the two things we are writers can control to get more sales. And I'm working on both of them. Slowly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Because of the potential pessimism, I haven't shown you the actual profit and loss statements: how much it cost me to produce a book compared to how much I've made. But I have a long term view. Most small businesses make a loss for the first five years. You just have to look beyond that. My plan is 10 years as an apprentice, and then I expect to be making a full time income from it (if I've continued to work consistently for those ten years). </span></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So, keep watching to find out if I can! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">What are other people's experiences with sales? Does Amazon generally outperform other platforms for you? </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-33832945196444175642014-07-19T20:37:00.003+10:002014-07-19T20:37:53.473+10:00The Universal Law of Action and Reaction<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Boxing Gloves And Dumbells 1" src="http://www.freeimages.com/assets/34/338405/boxing-gloves-and-dumbells-1-279226-m.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How would you react to being punched in the face? (image courtesy of andysteel at Free Images)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Newton's third law of motion is that for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction. This is a physical law of the universe. Unbreakable. Therefore, generally expected. Even when we aren't dealing with motion, we live in a world of cause and effect. I hit you, and it might be a hundred different things, but there are effects; you're pissed off at me, your nose bleeds, you realise you've been an idiot, etc. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Breaking The Rules:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Of course when writing we get to break the rules all the time. We can have people fly or jump over tall buildings in a single bound. But when we break these rules we always need to give an explanation. That explanation may be as simple as 'magic', but it is an explanation all the same. When we don't, our readers get annoyed. We accept Harry Potter flying around on broomsticks, but would get annoyed if Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice suddenly did, if we didn't give a good enough explanation.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So as writers we are usually pretty good at the big ones; they are flying because there's magic, they are time traveling because they have a machine. Simple. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, it's amazing how frequently even good writers break some of the more basic rules of the universe, such as cause and effect, without thinking there needs to be an explanation. Unfortunately, they are wrong. The audience always expects an action to have a reaction. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Action and Reaction:</b> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is a rare thing for a man to walk into a room with a gun and absolutely nothing happen without some explanation. In some situations even standing up causes a reaction. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
'Where are you going?' The girlfriend pouts. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The boyfriend sighs and sits down again. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Action, reaction, re-reaction. That's how life works. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So it is a lot more noticeable than obviously some writers think when we don't have a strong pattern of action and reaction. </div>
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Today I started reading <i>Dragonkeeper</i> by Carole Wilkinson, which is an award winning YA book. It took me a while to work out why it was irritating me so much. Then I read this section and it finally dawned on me;</div>
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[We are following a young girl called Ping and the dragon Danzi (shape-changed to look like an old man) who are trying to get to the Ocean. They believe they have escaped the clutches of the dragon hunter Diao and have just accepted hospitality in a village only to find Diao is also there.]</div>
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<i>She knew he had recognised her. He looked at the old man with the greenish face and the long side whiskers. His half-smile became whole.</i></div>
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<i>"That girl is an evil sorceress," Diao shouted. "The old man is a shape-changing demon."</i></div>
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<i>The villagers stared at him in surprise.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>"Don't just stand there. Seize them!"</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>The entire population of the village left their chores to see what the fuss was about.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>"I've come across them before," Diao contined.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>The villagers looked from the young girl and her frail grandfather to the grimy man with the unpleasant voice. They gathered protectively around Ping and Danzi, blocking any chance of escape.</i></div>
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<i>"Don't trust them because they look innocent."</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Hua [Ping's rat] chose that moment to reposition himself in the folds of Ping's gown.</i></div>
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<i>"See for yourselves," said Diao. "The girl has creatures living in her gown."</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>The villagers' eyes widened as they did indeed see something moving beneath the girl's clothing. They took a step away from Ping and towards Diao.</i></div>
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<i>"And the old man can't stand the touch of iron," said the dragon hunter.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>One of the villagers picked up an iron scythe and help it up against the old man's arm. Danzi groaned with pain. The villagers backed further away.</i></div>
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<i>"I know their ways," said Diao. "I will protect you from these evil demons."</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>The dragon hunter lunged forward and struck Danzi with his sword. Danzi screamed and fell to his knees. His cry was like a screech of tearing metal.</i></div>
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<i>Diao strode over and grabbed Ping. The villagers shouted encouragement to the foul-smelling man.</i></div>
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<i>"We'll give you all our money if you get rid of the demons," they promised.</i></div>
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<i>Diao was trying not to look too pleased. His mouth had returned to its usual sneer, but his eyes glittered with pleasure.</i></div>
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<i>Instead of the comfortable house in which Ping had imagined they would spend the night, the villagers pushed them into a pigsty... </i>[goes into long description of the pigsty]</div>
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So, anyone else see the huge problem with this scene? </div>
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What on earth were Ping and Danzi doing the whole time? Where was their reaction? The whole scene is action, action, action by Diao, disproportionately weak reaction, reaction, reaction from the villagers, and absolutely nothing from our protagonists. </div>
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If you are anything like me, you'll want to shout at Ping and
Danzi 'Do Something!', while also getting irritated at the author for
being lazy. Because it is lazy writing. The author obviously had an end
point she wanted to get to, and didn't take the time to properly plot
out how to get there, or even consider whether her characters would get into such a
situation. </div>
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Further, when we get to the point where so little reaction has happened that a new action cannot begin, a complete coincidence is brought in to make up the gap:</div>
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<i>"Don't trust them because they look innocent." </i></div>
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What exactly does Diao expect this accusation will accomplish? Oh, right, nothing, which is exactly what happens. So how do we move forward? Unrelated, coincidental action to kick start the scene again. <i><br /></i></div>
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<i>Hua [Ping's rat] chose that moment to reposition himself in the folds of Ping's gown.</i></div>
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<i>"See for yourselves," said Diao. "The girl has creatures living in her gown."</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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This scene could easily have been remedied if the author had remembered that every action needs not only a reaction, but an equal and opposite reaction. To be of equal size, the reaction needs to be from the person with the most to gain/lose from the action. For us, it's Ping and Danzi, which is why it's so irritating they are mute and motionless the entire time. </div>
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Not only is having no reactions unrealistic, it weakens the writing in two important ways. </div>
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<b>Conflict and Character:</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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As mentioned in the previous post (<a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2014/07/creating-dynamic-story.html">on creating a dynamic story</a>) stories are moved forward by conflict. Actions that have no reaction are by definition 'conflictless'. Similarly, reactions which are just what the initiator expected are not 'opposite' reactions, and do not create conflict. Instead, they create dull reading, like listening to 'yes men' all the time. </div>
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It is only when we have opposite reactions that we get into the meaty parts of writing. Opposite reactions open up opportunities. As seen in the scene above, with no reaction, no conflict, the story can't move forward. But when the characters respond in a way that the initiator doesn't expect, then there is another chance to react and keep everything moving forward. </div>
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The other important consequence of good action and reaction is character portrayal. True character can only be shown by the choices the individual makes. Reaction is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate this. When faced with someone accusing her of being a sorceress, how she responds tells us a lot about who she is. It through these reactions that we can escape 'telling' the audience
about the main character and starting 'showing' them the reality. </div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>There Is Always A Reaction:</b></div>
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Maybe when confronted by the dragon hunter our main character is so scared and uncertain that she doesn't make a move, but there is still a reaction. She goes from feeling happy and welcomed to suddenly fearful and petrified. Her limbs have gone from moving easily to being locked into place, or weak and about to collapse. These are all reactions, and they all tell us something about the main character. </div>
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</div>
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If you do manage to write a piece of action to which there is no reaction you have two choices: either explain why there is no reaction (he looks around and realises everyone has left the room), or delete it because it's a waste of space. </div>
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<b>Conclusion:</b></div>
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Action - reaction is the basis of all human experience. We expect it, so don't disappoint. </div>
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When in doubt, use Newton's third law to guide you into conflict and character revelation, because it's the easiest way to make a great story. </div>
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If you want to, why not try rewriting the scene above to see if you can make it more action packed. Can you give Ping different reactions which reveal her to be different types of person? Maybe in one she's aggressive and like a small terrier that never lets go, but in another she's wise and thoughtful, using knowledge of human nature to turn the villagers against Diao. It's all in how she responds. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-30158240961893468472014-07-13T15:20:00.001+10:002014-07-13T15:20:31.826+10:00Creating A Dynamic Story<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Chess Knights" src="http://www.freeimages.com/assets/182937/1829360523/chess-knights-1360662-m.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Conflict Is Always Exciting. Image courtesy of Dave Edmonds at freeimages.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Boring, insipid writing is on the rise. The ease of writing a book on a computer means more people are putting out words which are better left unsaid. Overall, I would much rather read bad but exciting writing, than technical okay but dull writing. And sadly, over the past few weeks, I feel I've been adding to the collection of uninspired words in the universe. The only benefit of this is that I've now come to realise some of the fundamentals of dull writing and how to turn it around. </div>
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<b>The first is lack of conflict. </b></div>
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</div>
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In <i>Story</i>, (which, yes, I'm still reading after about a month, because I can only get through a page or two before I have to stop and reassess all I know about my writing and the stories I've created so far!) Robert McKee argues that stories are moved along by conflict. Internal conflict, external conflict, it doesn't matter. A gap needs to open up between the character's expectations of what's going to happen and what does happen. This creates conflict. </div>
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</div>
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According to my wonderful source, the Internet, conflict as a verb is to be incompatible or at variance. We as writers need to make everything around our main character somehow at variance with him/her/it. We all know that we need a major climax at the end, usually some at the beginning to start things off, and then probably two turning points and a mid point conflict. However this is not quite what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about conflict in every scene, almost every line of writing. </div>
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Take dialogue as an example. </div>
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Has anyone else ever written really easy dialogue? It seems to just flow straight out onto the page. But when you go back and read it, it doesn't seem to have much punch? </div>
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Generally it's because all the characters are agreeing with what the others are saying. They all understand exactly what the other means, and say exactly what our main character expects. This is easy writing, because you know what you want to happen and it happens, then you can then easily move onto the next point. It is also very dull writing. </div>
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Instead, other characters need to say things that our main character doesn't expect. This creates conflict, tension, good reading. The only problem is that if we are inside the head of our main character, we might not expect it either. So we then have to stop and think from both sides, flicking backwards and forwards. It takes longer, is much more of a mental exercise, but creates a much more dynamic set of characters, situations and story. </div>
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One of the prerequisites for this is knowing all the characters in a scene in more depth. </div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Minor Characters: </b></div>
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I love my main character in every story I write. Sometimes it even becomes a bit weird, as I cry about the awful things I have to do to them and promise them faithfully that I will get them out the other side stronger and better than before. (This might be one of the reasons I could never write <i>The Hunger Games</i>, as how Collins could write the final book in the series leaving her main character permanently mentally scarred is beyond me. I admit Tolkien did it, but then he sent Frodo off to the West, and that made all things good again). </div>
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However, I have recently discovered that loving my main characters too much has led to some rather insipid writing. First is the natural desire to keep them away from conflict. Who would willing thrust their beloved child into a warzone? However, unless you want them never to be read, this is exactly what you need to do. </div>
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The other problem is that I'm so in love with my main characters, I often see things completely from their perspective. I get into that childlike belief that everyone else in the world disappears when not interacting with my main character. In <i>Virtually Ideal</i>, which is in the first person, Laurie will be talking to her boyfriend (no hints on who he is!), then go off to work, have a few crises, and then ring him up again and find him still in the same emotional state as she left him in. </div>
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BORING!</div>
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In real life people don't sit around doing nothing all day waiting for their girlfriends to call. They go off and have their own crises, victories, changes in emotional state. It is this element of the unexpected which makes using a phone so scary for a lot of us (come on, I can't be the only one that hates ringing people because I don't know what's going to be on the other end?) </div>
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It is only through knowing what's going on in the lives of the other characters when they are not on the page that we can really introduce engaging conflict into the story. Laurie might ring up to cry on boyfriend's shoulder, only to find out that he's just had a really bad day and wants to have a cry on hers. Then Laurie is in conflict over fulfilling her own needs or his. This might lead to the realisation that she's selfish enough that she doesn't want to spend her time comforting him, she's just been using him for her own emotional needs. (Not saying that's what's happening, it's just an example). This then leads to a break up, or possibly personal growth in our character. But all this could only happen because we knew what was happening in the boyfriend's life as well. </div>
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<b>Two Steps to Improve Conflict:</b></div>
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So I'm now incorporating two steps into my writing to make sure that I consciously consider these aspects. </div>
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</div>
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The first is in my warm up (which has now become totally indispensable to me. I can't imagine not taking this time beforehand to work out ideas, see my last post on the <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2014/06/the-power-of-warm-up.html">power of the warm up)</a>. Knowing which scene I'm going to be working on in the main session, I take the time in the warm up to plot out what my other characters have been doing prior to this, and to work out what expectations they are coming into the scene with. What do they want to happen? </div>
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It's come as a real surprise sometimes that my other characters don't really want to go along with whatever I've planned for my main character. They happen to be just as selfish and self involved as I am about Laurie. Weird, huh? </div>
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The second step is in dialogue. I always thought I was awesome at dialogue, because it always came so naturally. Now I'm realising that often I'm missing a lot of the potential conflict, and I'm just using it as a tool to get across what I want to happen. So now I'm consciously slowing down my writing of dialogue and developing multiple personalities. </div>
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Dialogue really needs to be a harsh battle of wills, a take and take of selfish personalities. Writing it should be like being an actor in a one man play. I jump from one side of the table to the other, playing both characters, not letting either one overpower the other. Only it happens in my head. Usually. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, this does take a lot more effort. Main character puts forward a statement, question, whatever. Then as the write I stop, listen to the statement from the mind set of character two, run that through their wants and desires, and then put back and answer. Repeat process. Ideally I would do this with every line of dialogue. But there is a slight short cut you can take. </div>
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A slightly faster way to do this is just to make sure that whatever the other person says is not what the main character expects. Sounds silly, but yields amazing results. You get to stay in the mindset of your main character, you just conflict with what they want to happen. </div>
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Compare these two examples. </div>
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'Would you like a cup of tea?'</div>
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'Yes, thank you.'</div>
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'Biscuit?'</div>
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'No, I'm good.'</div>
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Totally boring. What do we find out about these two characters? Absolutely nothing, other than that they are reasonably polite. </div>
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'Would you like a cup of tea?'</div>
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'Tea? Really? It just seems so English.'</div>
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'I suppose it is. Coffee then?'</div>
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'Oh, I never drink coffee, it's bad for my chakras.' </div>
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Much more interesting, and gives more insight into each of the characters. When the other character isn't really important, then just having them conflict with the main character is enough. Of course they need to be consistent, but you don't always need to know they unconscious motivation. However, for more major characters, such as Laurie's boyfriend, a true understanding of what's going on in their heads is indispensable. </div>
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In real life we might spend time agreeing with people, but usually it's because we aren't really paying attention or want to avoid conflict. In a story, an individual character may want to avoid conflict, but you as the writer want to encourage it. Understand and use your minor characters to move the story forward by disagreeing with the main character. </div>
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<b>Update On Buffyworld:</b></div>
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I'm currently writing Episode 14 of <i>Virtually Ideal</i>, which was going to be the last episode. It might still be, it just depends on whether I can get everything wrapped up. I've been getting myself through longer writing session by promising myself I can write as fast as I want and it will all be edited and rearranged once I know the whole story. This has resulted in me not being held up with fear, but also finishing with a manuscript that is currently 164,000 words. However, I'm actually looking forward to the restructure (which would not have been possible without the entire first draft, as I had no idea about some of the things that have come up and turned out to be really good). I plan to use some of McKee's plotting advice to map it all out, then rework it from there. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Going the opposite way, I've started using McKee's scene analysis to map out from scratch <i>Five Nights in Vienna</i> (or Wien, I haven't decided whether I want to use the German name yet). I've got about half of it sorted out, but haven't really got a handle on my main character. So more exploration needed there before I start writing. </div>
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Every now and again I do a bit of work on <i>Bootcamp</i>, particularly as great ideas for extra bits come up. But I'm mainly focused on finish the first drafts at the moment. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And, I'm going to have to do a second edition of <i>After The Winter</i>. Typos aside, my grandmother's best friend has just pointed out to me that there is no Joker in Bridge (I was basing it on my knowledge of Five Hundred. My bad.) So I've promised I'll fix that up. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also, I got feedback from the Christian publisher about <i>Sally Hunt</i>. It was very sweet of her to take the time to give it. She's not interested in taking the manuscript as it is now, but has shown me a few areas I could tighten it up (eg. it's still a bit preachy, which I worked out from something McKee said, and too much telling instead of showing). So that's waiting to go under the knife as well. However, I'm happy that they are things I can fix up. And I have to admit that I was reading over the beginning the other day and realised that in the years since I first wrote it, I've learnt a lot about writing.</div>
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Finally I got an appraisal back about my great grandfather's story <i>A Little Bit Of Leaven</i>. It is currently entered in the Caleb Christian writing competition, so I will still wait to see how it does in that. The appraisal said that it is quite slow (which I fully admit it is, but partly on purpose), and that the third person omniscient POV (point of view) makes it feel very 'old fashioned'. Since it was written over half a century ago, I think that's fair. However, I don't know if I want to change that, because I think that's part of its unique selling proposition. People don't write like that these days, but a large percentage of the population grew up with that style, and have a nostalgic affection for it. But they pointed out that it is unlikely a modern publisher would want it. </div>
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The question that raises is do I keep it as it is, but reduce its modern appeal, or re-write it in a contemporary voice which will undermine its authenticity as a historical document. </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is, in part, a similar problem to what I have with <i>After The Winter.</i> I set it in 1920, so wrote it in a style appropriate to the setting. However, some people have complained about that, saying it should be written in a contemporary style. </div>
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What do you think? Should historical pieces still have a contemporary writing style, or should they try to be authentic to the period? (within reason, obviously, they still need to be readable.)</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
And anyone put their main characters into awful conflict recently? How has it worked out? </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-40823437014575020082014-06-17T09:33:00.002+10:002014-06-17T09:33:57.388+10:00The Power Of The Warm-Up<div style="text-align: justify;">
Does anyone else give great advice and then not follow it themselves? Only me?</div>
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I've been editing my next writing book, <i>The Five Day Writer's Bootcamp</i>, and in it I stress the importance of a writing warm up. </div>
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Had I actually been doing writing warm ups myself? No. </div>
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Do I still firmly believe they are a good idea? Yes. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So,
for the past week I decided to implement a warm up before my sessions.
It isn't long, probably 5 minutes, I don't really time it, I just go
until I finish the idea and feel ready to write.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I decided
that I would use the warm up to get to know my characters and story
better. I know a lot of people feel that reading over what they did last
session is warm up enough, or they spend time planning what they'll
write today. I don't do that. I put absolutely no pressure on my warm up
to be directly improving the story. Instead, it's a chance just to play
and have fun before getting down to work. I want to give my genius time
to say anything it wants to, even if it's not what I had planned. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What did I actually do?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well,
I'm writing a chick-lit, so the first day I decided to put my girl and
three main guys in a room and see what happened. I presented it as a
cocktail party where the three men meet for the first time. It's never
actually going to happen in the book in this way, but I wanted to see
how they would react to each other. It gave me great insight into each
of the men, and reinforced why I liked two of them over the third.
(Though hasn't helped me choose which of the two she'll end up with. I'm
90% sure I know which one, but the other keeps being so darn sweet!)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The
second day I decided to work out what was the worst possible thing I
could do to my main character, and how would she react. If I made her
lose her job and get kicked out of her apartment, would that be enough?
No, she would feel she could still be supported by her family and
friends. So I had to dig deep. Where is she prideful? What does she base
her self esteem on? And how could I destroy that? It seems a cruel
task, but it is a really good challenge to work out if you have a large
enough climax, and ensures that you've really targeted the centre of the
character. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've also spent time interviewing my
characters, and mapping out how they could react to different events.
I've asked them about this biggest fears, their deepest desires, and
some of their answers have surprised me. I've put them in new
situations, and I've got them to interact with other people they might
never meet. All this so that when I start my writing session, I'm in
tune with them. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And the result?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well,
aside from any potential plot twists and character info that usefully
arises, taking out the time to warm up I still get more written per hour
afterwards than I did using the entire time to add words to the
manuscript. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, I highly recommend you give it ago. Get into it, and get to know your characters and setting. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>ROW 80 Goals:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Last week I set myself the challenge to write 5,000 per day. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I
am proud to announce that other than one day, I've succeeded! A few
days have been only 4,600-4,800, but other days have been 5,400-5,800.
So on average I'm ahead. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm now part way through
episode 10. I'm on track to finish the first draft of all the episodes
by the end of June. Not only that, but things have arisen that I could
never have predicted. The tale has taken a bit of a twist, but it is
such a compelling twist that I'm going to go back and rewrite it more
fully into the tale in the second draft. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I would like to thank the warm ups for helping in achieving this goal. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Though
I've also not been to the gym for most of those days, but that was
because I thought I was coming down sick. Still not feeling 100%, but
with plenty of sleep and fluids I seem to be staving off a full blown
attack. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Goals for next week: </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Continue with the writing frenzy, but try and start going to the gym as well. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'm
currently trying to read about five books at one time, so might need to
focus down and finish one off at a time. I just can't decide which one!
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What would you want to know about your characters, if they could tell you just one thing? </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-51024983159488435042014-06-09T14:45:00.000+10:002014-06-09T14:45:58.656+10:00The Fear and Comfort Of A 90:10 RatioDo you ever have those instances where it feels like the universe is ganging up on you to make a point?<br />
<br />
In the last week someone has been fiddling with my life to teach me the 90:10 Ratio, a rule I wouldn't otherwise subscribe to.<br />
<br />
It started a few days ago when I was listening to a podcast on writing. The presenter was talking about drafting, and the need to overdraft and then cut back. I am, in general, happy with this rule. Stephen King says a second draft should be your first draft minus 10%. That's the sort of thing I'm talking about. You write a bit extra, then pare out the unnecessary words.<br />
<br />
This is not what they were talking about. They mentioned Hemmingway. His basic approach was this (please excuse the language): <br />
<h1 class="quoteText">
<span style="font-size: small;">“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.” </span></h1>
They were talking about writing so much you could throw 90% out and keep the good 10% (or about 1% in Hemmingway's case). That just seemed ridiculous to me. While I'm all for writing as training, the thought of having to write even 180,000 words to pare down to 90,000, a 2:1 ratio, seems too much.<br />
<br />
Then I was reading <i>Story</i> by Robert McKee (which, if you were wondering, is really good. Highly recommended, even if you only want to write novels). McKee argues:<br />
<br />
'If your finished screenplay contains every scene you've ever written, if you've never thrown an idea away, if your rewriting is little more than tinkering with dialogue, your work will almost certainly fail. No matter our talent, we all know in the midnight of our souls that 90 percent of what we do is less than our best. If, however, research inspires a pace of ten to one, even twenty to one, and if you then make brilliant choices to find that 10 percent of excellence and burn the rest, every scene will fascinate and the world will sit in awe of your genius.'<br />
<br />
Admit it, don't you want the world to sit in awe of your genius?<br />
<br />
Why does this 90:10 keep coming up? What's wrong with just editing 10% of it? What about the inspiration that's gone into that scene? <br />
<br />
According to McKee, 'more often than not, inspiration is the first idea picked off the top of your head, and sitting on top of your head is every film you've ever seen, every novel you've ever read, offering cliches to pluck.' So he suggests that once you get an idea for a scene, you should then sketch out a list of five, ten fifteen different versions of that scene.<br />
<br />
I find this idea a bit scary and overwhelming. Not only do you want me to write a novel, but you actually want me to write about ten novels and then perfect it into one?<br />
Deep breaths, deep breaths.<br />
<br />
But, on the other hand, it is liberating. When I'm drafting, it doesn't matter if 90% of what I write is crap. I just have to keep going and I'll be able to cut out all the stuff that isn't good later. It's by trying to write 100% perfectly every session that I get caught up. If I only need a success rate of 10% to be up there with Hemmingway, then I think I can do that. (Though don't be surprised if I start bring out novellas!)<br />
<br />
The challenge now is to spend the time editing it down to that 10%. I have the growing fear that I may not have edited <i>After The Winter</i> as much as I should have. While a lot of people love it, I've also received the feedback that in parts it's slow and the language a bit flowery. My poor little criticism sensitive writer's soul wants to pull it off the shelves and hide it away forever. But, instead, I'm going to take my lesson learnt and see if the next book can be better. And the one after that. And maybe one day I will come back and do a second edition of <i>ATW</i> with all that I've learnt. But for now I feel I need to keep moving forward. (That is the one problem with self-publishing, very few people are brave enough to tell you you should hold it back just a bit longer. And even if they did, you often don't listen. Sorry Mum and Anna!).<br />
<br />
So, I'm not sure I will go as far as the 91 to 1 or even 90 to 10 ratio just yet, but for <i>Virtually Ideal</i> I'm drafting out 14 episodes. I then plan to try and pare it back to 10 episodes, and then 7. I am going to overwrite to give myself more room to play, more ideas to choose from, and less cliches to get stuck in.<br />
<br />
<b>ROW 80</b><br />
There are just three weeks left in June. My overambitious goal is to get all 14 episodes drafted by the end. I'm currently working on episode 8, so just over halfway. And I have no idea what's actually going to happen. I think I know which guy she's going to get in the end, but one of them keeps surprising me when I try to write him out. Also, her mother has just announced there is another big family secret, I just wish someone had told me this!<br />
<br />
So for this week, I'm aiming towards 5,000 words a day and an episode every 3 days. Wish me luck. (Yes, I do still have full time work, and it's the end of the term so everyone is tired and grumpy. But if I can make it through to the 27th of June, then I get three weeks holidays, though I have writing plans for July as well).<br />
<br />
After July I'm going into editing mode again. I think. <br />
<br />
I'm currently ahead in my reading challenge, but still working through <i>The Aeneid</i> and also <i>Story</i>. Though, while I read <i>Story</i>, I keep getting great ideas to put into <i>Bootcamp</i>, so that slows down the reading process a bit. But I'll hopefully finish one of these in the next week. <br />
<br />
<br />
So, what's your genius to trash ratio?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-47595837747190201972014-06-02T12:06:00.000+10:002014-06-02T12:09:49.601+10:00Cure For FrustrationOver the last few days I've been doing a bit of research into being a literary agent and a book editor. No, not because I'm planning on moving to the other side of publishing. It's research for my serial. Laurie in <i>Virtually Ideal</i> starts off as an unpaid intern at a literary agency, and so I needed to know what exactly they do on a day to day basis, how networking with editors works, and what a new agent would need to learn. It's fascinating looking into exactly what they do, how much they get paid (or really don't) and how much work it all takes.<br />
<br />
My research extended to include which parts of contracts agents need to be especially wary of, and why they need to double and triple check all royalty statements from publishing houses. (For all those without your own agent, or who want to understand some of the pitfalls better, I highly recommend you take the 10 minutes or so to read this article on <a href="http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/Royalty-Statements.htm">Royalty Statements</a> by Richard Curtis.)<br />
<br />
Doing this research produced two effects in me. The first is that I feel sorry for publishing editors, but not at all sorry for publishing houses. The editors appear to be vastly exploited, working long hours for what is basically a graduate level pay. The publishing houses, probably their financial division, on the other hand appear to employ a number of very dodgy and at times possibly illegal activities. Between badly reported royalty earnings, misrepresenting sales, not declaring reserves and never paying back reserves, it all becomes a bit scary. I highly recommend all writers do their research into these things so they know what they should be looking for.<br />
<br />
The second is something I've felt on a number of occasions; it is an overwhelming sense of frustration. Yesterday I found a perfect description of it by Adele Parks, now a best selling contemporary women's authors, in the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2013:<br />
<br />
"I clearly remember, before I was published, standing in a Waterstones bookshop on Oxford Street, London, literally weeping in frustration as I stared at the plethora of published works; I wanted to know, what was the magic ingredient? Why were those books published and not mine?"<br />
<br />
Writing and then getting published is a long process. Even if you write very quickly, the editing process, then the production process, then marketing and getting people to actually buy the books takes time. Even with self-publishing. And that can be frustrating. Frustrating when other people seem to have it much easier, and their books aren't even that good! (I totally accept J.K.Rowlings, her books were wonderful, she turned them all out on time, and she managed to maintain the quality. Other people, however...) <br />
<br />
Reading about the publishing industry, how much chance it appears to be, how difficult it all is, and how long it takes left me feeling like I would never eventually 'make it'. Even in self-publishing there is the same sense when reading about other people's successes, the sudden boom in sales and publishers knocking on their door. I wanted to curl up and cry and never look at my writing again. <br />
<br />
Anyone else ever feel like this? (Don't worry if you don't answer, Adele has assured me I'm not alone).<br />
<br />
This has plagued me on and off for all the time I've been writing. But finally, last night, I found a very effective cure.<br />
<br />
In my last post I linked to a YouTube video on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BXuZL1HAg">The Willpower Instinct</a> (still highly recommend it if you haven't watched it yet. Is 50 minutes, but worth it). One of the exercises Kelly McGonigal recommends for increasing will power is to connect with your future self. Researchers found that students who were given the opportunity to 'talk' with their future selves, asking questions about how life turns out and realising that their future self will experience everything as they do, then showed greater ability to delay gratification in important areas such as setting up savings accounts, etc.<br />
<br />
So I tried it. Last night I wrote a letter from my 41 year old self to me now. Ten years in the future, what did I want to say to the person I am now. It was an amazing message of hope and gratitude. In ten years my dreams of being a best selling author had come about. It might have taken longer than I thought it would, but the effort I put in when I was 31-32 now pays my kids' school fees and means I can take wonderful holidays with my family. Yes, it took a while to get a traditional publishing contract, but by building my collection of quality self-published work I had increased the value of that contract because of all the back sales. Taking that bit of extra time in editing meant that I was still proud of all the work I had produced. And the hours I spent at the computer rather than watching T.V. meant that I could now spend time playing with my children.<br />
<br />
To your future self, after the event, it doesn't seem to matter if it happened after 1 year or after 5. The important thing is that you kept trying until it did happen.<br />
<br />
So I highly recommend you try this next time you get frustrated. And yes, maybe I will need to keep writing myself letters of encouragement. I might need to be my own cheer squad for many years to come. But eventually I will be there, because I'm not going to let myself give up. <br />
<br />
And having said all that, there are also sweet points along the way. I've received two reviews from individuals who won a copy of <i>After The Winter</i>, both 4 stars on Goodreads (which anyone who knows Goodreads will realise how great that is.) How sweet are these? <br />
<br />
Rachael said: "I<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer919319845"><span id="freeTextContainer7091428672351478599">f you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, then you’ll love this book" (what more could an author ask for?)</span></span><br />
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer919319845"><span id="freeTextContainer7091428672351478599"><br /></span></span>
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer919319845"><span id="freeTextContainer7091428672351478599">And Kathryn said: "</span></span><span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079">Lucinda
is a lovely character who makes you just want the best for her. I
wanted to give her a hug at different points and tell her that it would
all be ok." Which is exactly how I felt for Lucinda, so I'm glad that other people feel this way too!</span></span><br />
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079"><br /></span></span>
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079">For the full reviews, see <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21570045-after-the-winter">After The Winter</a> on Goodreads. </span></span><br />
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079"><br /></span></span>
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079">Goals:</span></span><br />
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079">I'm now working on episode 6 of <i>Virtually Ideal</i>. Last week I had a few reasonable days of 3,500 words, and one or two great days of just over 5,000. Then I had a day or two like yesterday when I couldn't write anything fresh.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079">However, I did not waste that time. I spent two hours yesterday, and one hour the other day I couldn't write editing <i>Bootcamp</i>. I'm focusing on the manuscript section by section at the moment and going over each chunk to make sure it's logical, with the clearest possible examples, good connectors and says everything that I want it to. I can see that it still needs quite a lot of editing work, but every time I read it I'm impressed with the good advice I've given (some of which I then put into practice myself!). </span></span><br />
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079"><br /></span></span>
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079">This week I want to finish episode 6 and start episode 7. Need to keep pushing ahead as I want to finish the series this month so I can do my own Nanowrimo in July to write a brand new contemporary romance: Five Days In Vienna (based on a true story... mine. But more about that later). But if I get too burnt out to write, then I'll spend more time editing <i>Bootcamp</i>. </span></span><br />
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079"><br /></span></span>
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079">My brother is sending me a copy of <i>Story</i> by Robert McKee, which is particularly for screenplays but my brother was so impressed with the practical information that he said I needed to read it. I'm really looking forward to it. </span></span><br />
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079"><br /></span></span>
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079">I'm also ahead in my reading challenge, which is great. At the moment I'm working my way through <i>The Aeneid</i>, as I've never read the whole thing, though I had to translate Book IV for my Latin test in year 12, so have always felt a connection to the work. The translation I have is not the most fluid, so it takes quite a bit of mental effort to read, but is refreshingly vivid and varied in its language. </span></span><br />
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079"><br /></span></span>
<span class="readable" id="reviewTextContainer923528542"><span id="freeText17782513172976894079">Anyone else have a good cure for frustration? </span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-58792032908182121572014-05-27T21:47:00.001+10:002014-05-27T22:18:49.380+10:004 Episodes Down and A Side-Thought on WillpowerHello!<br />
<br />
Can you believe it, it is week 6 of a 10 week term at school? Over halfway, and counting down til the July holidays. <br />
<br />
I've spent the past few weeks working on more episodes for my romance serial. Episode 3 took me almost a full two weeks to write. One scene I rewrote three times before I could move on. It took me days to work out what the problem was. In the end it came down to not knowing my characters well enough. There was a new character, Timothy, who I didn't really get. So I ended up spending an hour interviewing him. I asked him all about how he felt, what he wanted, as well as a bit about his past relationships and history. Suddenly he made a lot more sense. Once I got back into my main character's eyes (it's written in the first person), it was much easier to describe what was going on as I could guess what Timothy was thinking behind his actions. <br />
<br />
Episode 4 then came out in three days. The second day I really wanted to go see a movie (the new X-Men), but I had told myself I wasn't seeing any movies until I finished the entire series. Surprisingly, that wasn't very motivating. It was just too far off to imagine the gratification. So in the end I said I could see the movie that night if I wrote 5,000 words. 5,037 words and two and a half hours later, I was out that door!<br />
<br />
I'm now working on Episode 5, so feel I'm getting somewhere. And just to let you all know, I still haven't worked out which guy she's going to end up with! <br />
<br />
To break up the writing a bit, I've also been thinking about cover art (a fun diversion). Testing out fiverr.com, I got Goodaugther to do an original digital watercolour for the serial (just so you know, because I wanted it detailed, high resolution and with the psd file, it wasn't $5, but I think it was still a fantastic deal at $25). I gave her a few examples and told her that I wanted a brownhaired girl in a cafe with a laptop and a coffee. Now I just need to add the text and play with it a bit. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B53p8aG2-tE/U4R4xeoJOJI/AAAAAAAAAh8/sIbWkcvBr58/s1600/buffygreentree_FO84CF934EE7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B53p8aG2-tE/U4R4xeoJOJI/AAAAAAAAAh8/sIbWkcvBr58/s1600/buffygreentree_FO84CF934EE7.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
And can I just say that writing a serial is FUN! Each episode is short (12,000-15,000 words), so the action needs to be fast paced, and no slack sentences. But overall it is a much longer work than a novel (I'm aiming for 14 episodes at the moment), so a lot more can happen. I have characters popping in and out, situations coming up and then hiding away until a few episodes later, and lots of other excitement. Though, I do keep remembering things that I should bring in a bit earlier, or refer to again, so I'm very glad that I'm not actually publishing it an episode at a time. Maybe once I'm a bit more practiced at the artform I can do that. But for now, I want to get as closed to finish as I can.<br />
<br />
Out of the three publishers I queried, one has gotten back to me saying it was bit too niche an idea for them, which is fair, but the other two are still out there, possibly considering it.<br />
<br />
By the way, I've loaded the first day as a free sample on the <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/p/synopses-of-drafts-written-so-far.html" target="_blank">Synopsis page</a>, if you're interested in seeing what it's all about. <br />
<br />
Finally, for those who need some constructive procrastination, I watched this great YouTube video on current research behind Willpower. It is about an hour and goes through some really interest studies, and gives you five great hacks for improving your powers. Who doesn't want more willpower? So enjoy.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-13666904050474838622014-05-14T23:15:00.005+10:002014-05-14T23:15:50.838+10:00What To Do With A Good RomanceHello all. <br />
<br />
Well, I suppose after giving you great advice regarding <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2014/05/publishing-basics-part-2-why-i-write-to.html" target="_blank">sending work to publishers</a>, I should probably take it myself.<br />
<br />
I've been so excited about my romantic serial, I hadn't actually stopped to consider whether it would be worth sending to a publishing house. Obviously it's no good for a strict publisher, but as I've found out through a bit of Googling, there are a number of romance imprints that are purely digital. If they haven't gotten into serials yet, they seriously need to. And I'm going to be the one that suggests it to them.<br />
<br />
So, I've polished up episode 1, and am just cutting the word limit a bit as it's longer than I intended. Then hopefully tomorrow, will start sending it off to a few imprints and see if anyone's interested.<br />
While I'm waiting for them to get back to me, it's full steam ahead with the writing. If nothing else, it'll give me time to write out more before self-publishing it myself, as well as a thought out sales pitch and description.<br />
<br />
And of course, if some publisher did want it... well, one can dream :D<br />
<br />
Can't believe it's Wednesday, again. As to my goals as written up last time:<br />
<br />
- Create cover for series.<br />
Have a wonderful girl at Fiverr working on some cover art. Will hopefully see the results by the end of the week. Might not need it, but a nice bit of cover art never goes astray. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
- Get Episode 1 out. (yah!)<br />
Well, I'll get it out to publishers, so counting that as a win when I do it. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
- Edit episode 2 and send to editor.<br />
Done.<br />
<br />
- Start writing episode 3.<br />
I've written the first scene and a half, so that counts.<br />
<br />
I also finished 'A Tale Of Two Cities' (had me in tears) and am now halfway through 'Quiet: The Power of Introverts', very interesting both for myself and handling others.<br />
<br />
Okay, so doing pretty well.<br />
<br />
By next Sunday:<br />
- Finished Quiet.<br />
- Finished Episode 3<br />
- Submitted Episode 1 to at least two publishers.<br />
<br />
That would be quite nice. <br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-56782374426865360032014-05-12T17:21:00.001+10:002014-05-12T17:21:50.605+10:00Quick ROW 80 Check InLast post I wrote about how I'd given up my <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2014/05/no-more-will-to-fail.html" target="_blank">Will To Fail</a>. It was a pretty good post, and I stand by everything I said in it. However, I just want to let all other aspiring life correctors in on a little secret:<br />
<br />
The moment you post anything like that, everything in your life will conspire to bring you down.<br />
<br />
Throw a challenge out to the universe, and it will try to slap you down. The only thing you can do about it is tuck your head in and get on with your work.<br />
<br />
So, I'm proud to announce that despite wanting to curl up from the light of day forever and ever, I managed to keep writing. A little bit at a time, not always the full two hours, but enough. I had wanted to get the first draft of Episode 1 of my new chick-lit serial (name still being decided. Might end up stick with 'An Ideal Boyfriend', regardless of another book under that name) done by Friday. I then planned to have the whole thing out by Tuesday. I was therefore disheartened when I was still trying to complete it Saturday morning. But complete it I did.<br />
<br />
And the reason it took so long, it turns out, is because it was actually long enough, with enough climaxes and developments, to be two episodes. So from feeling despondent Saturday morning for being behind, I cut it in half and by Saturday noon felt satisfied that I was now ahead an episode. <br />
<br />
I edited up the new first episode on Sunday and sent it to one of my brilliant on-call editors, Jo. She's got back to me today with the first scene, seeing if I'm happy with what she's doing (which I am), and will finish the episode by tomorrow. Another read through, final edit, and then it's ready to go. I just need to make a cover.<br />
<br />
I contacted someone on Fiverr.com yesterday about getting a digital watercolour done for the cover, but still waiting to hear back. Otherwise, I'll pull out my developing photoshop skills and see what I can do.<br />
<br />
I'm starting to edit episode two now, and then settle into writing episode three. <br />
<br />
So, new goals for this week:<br />
- Create cover for series.<br />
- Get Episode 1 out. (yah!)<br />
- Edit episode 2 and send to editor.<br />
- Start writing episode 3.<br />
<br />
As actually publishing something always takes long than I think it will, I'm not going to say 'finish episode 3', but starting it will be good.<br />
<br />
Also should think about marketing the serial. Hmm... Any ideas? Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-69031144945244165152014-05-08T12:48:00.047+10:002014-05-08T12:48:49.292+10:00No More Will To Fail!We all set goals, and 99% of the time we fail at them. There are thousands of things written out there about how to achieve your goals, and most of it we read, know to be true, and then don't do anyway.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Most People Operate Under A Will To Fail. </div>
<br />
We know what we need to do. We all agree that watching less TV and eating better will in the long run make us feel better and healthier. And yet we constantly fail to do these things. Why? No good reason. It seemed a bit easier, but really it's not. We put just as much effort into failing as we would need to put into succeeding.<br />
<br />
So I'm trying to combat that.<br />
<br />
I'm saying 'No' to the will to fail, and shifting through my life to find all the areas where I don't do what I know I should. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Bio- Hacking:</b><br />
<br />
Recently, through one of those googling chains where you look up something and follow that to something else, my brother introduced me to a website called '<a href="http://www.bulletproofexec.com/" target="_blank">Bulletproof Executive</a>'. Now, I don't agree with everything he says, but his basic concept is very interesting. It's about how he tries everything he can to perform at his peak all of the time. Basically, he looks at how he can 'biohack' his life through diet, sleep, supplements, meditation techniques etc to make the most of his body and mind. He's spent $300,000 on finding out how to operate at a higher level of performance. Interesting, huh? <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Ultimate Flow:</b><br />
<br />
It also led me to a podcast where he interviews the author of '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPpqmicpHtw" target="_blank">The Rise Of The Superman</a>'. Steven Kolter has dedicated the last number of years studying how people use Flow for all great achievements.<br />
<br />
Anyone who has followed me for a while will know my love affair with Flow, from one of my earliest posts ever, <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2012/07/preparation-2-creating-flow.html" target="_blank">On Creating Flow</a>, through to more recent study into <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2014/03/happiness-and-flow.html" target="_blank">Happiness and Flow</a>. So I was glad to see that I wasn't the only one obsessed with this concept.<br />
<br />
One big challenge I got from listening to Steven is that he argues Flow is so important for achieving excellence, he does absolutely everything he can in order to maximise it in his life. This includes focusing only on activities that induce flow, and cutting out as much extraneous things he can. You can see why Bulletproof guy was interviewing him. <br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Maximising My Life:</b> <br />
<br />
Luckily this came at a time when I was already doing a bit of soul searching and life rearranging (it's nice how these things work together. It just shows that taking the first step can open up new thoughts and paths that you never would have seen if you hadn't started.)<br />
<br />
I'm dedicated to writing. I love it, and know that it makes me a happier, better person. But it's still hard at time. So, even after writing and publishing my book on creating a lifestyle of writing (which still has a lot of awesome stuff: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Day-Writers-Retreat-ebook/dp/B00BRAIPPE/" target="_blank">The Five Day Writer's Retreat</a>, available now) I am still looking for ways to improve.<br />
<br />
So here are the things I've done recently to maximise my life. Some are specific to me, but some you might be able to use yourself. <br />
<br />
1. Lifestyle change. The move up to Brisbane in January has made a huge difference in my life. It's not something everyone can do, but for me it has given me the following advantages:<br />
a) a full time income so I never need to worry about money or selling out my writing.<br />
b) a living situation where I don't need to cook, do much cleaning, do any maintenance or even pay my own bills = more time/energy to write. <br />
c) more sunlight (which has an amazing affect on mood, and was an important part of my decision to move.) <br />
d) a job that doesn't drain my writing resources like my last one.<br />
e) 11 weeks paid holidays a year (being paid for school holidays is awesome!).<br />
f) plenty of inspiration in the 170 girls that I help to look after. They are forever surprising me with their antics and ideas. <br />
<br />
2. I've given up refined sugar and flour. Today is Day 12. (Though I haven't been perfect, there's lots of hidden sugar and flour, and when your meals are cooked for you, you can't be too nosy). For a long time people had been telling me how much better they felt when they gave up sugar and refined flour. Most of the big popular diets at the moment - Paleo, Dukan, Lean and Clean, No Sugar Diet, Low Carb - appear to agree that definitely getting rid of sugar, and possibly getting rid of refined flour, is better for our bodies.<br />
<br />
Yeah, yeah, I thought, but I can't give up my chocolate, or my toast.<br />
<br />
But then my little sister did it for 30 days. And honestly, if she can do it, anyone can. (I don't want to say she has the will power of a gnat, but it's pretty close). <br />
<br />
I have a few other things going on at the moment, so I can't say that I'm suddenly overwhelmed with energy, but I do seem to be struggling less to find words after a long day, and I definitely feel more in control. If giving up sugar and flour can make me need a bit less sleep (that's what my mother claims), can stop me getting as sick, and can help me think clearer, then I owe it to my writing to do it. <br />
<br />
I've started with a 30 day covenant, but I'm looking at the no refined sugar as a lifestyle after this, and probably the no refined flour as well. (Once you start cooking without it, you know what you can do and you don't feel you're missing out. Made chocolate brownies last night with almond meal and honey, and they are delicious!) <br />
<br />
3. I'm limiting TV. We all know that it's bad for us. That if we want to relax, reading is much, much better, not just for writers but anyone who wants to look after their brains. But we all still do it.<br />
<br />
So, as I really believe it is not good for me, I now limit it to once a week. I don't have a TV in my room, and I don't watch anything on my laptop. Instead, I go over to my brother's house, and we watch all our favourite shows together. It is saving me hours every day, which I can put towards reading and other great creativity inducing pursuits.<br />
<br />
4. Exercise. Sitting down all day is bad for your body. Sad but true. Exercising is good for your brain. Happy and true. So, if I want my body to be able to write and think clearly, I have to schedule in exercise. Again, we all know this, but sit in front of the TV instead anyway. <br />
<br />
Therefore, I'm now going to a CrossFit gym and doing an intense workout 4-5 times a week. This particular style works for me, but I'm definitely not saying everyone should be a CrossFitter. I'm just saying you should be doing something. It is a will to fail that stops you from doing anything at all. <br />
<br />
5. Sleep. This is another one we all joke about, knowing we should get more or better sleep. We've been told to turn off our computers an hour before we go to bed, and to stop drinking stimulants a couple of hours before that. But how often do we actually do this?<br />
<br />
There's really no excuse not to build a good sleep hygiene routine if you want the best performance. So I'm seeing a specialist about getting some of my sleep issues worked out, and I've started implementing a better routine towards the end of my shift so I can get to sleep when I finish. This is starting to pay dividends, and once it's all worked out, might win me back hours of unproductive time (either sleeping badly or being only half awake).<br />
<br />
6. Clearing Your Head. Everywhere you will see recommendations to relax, manage stress, meditate and focus on your breathing. We are made to take time out and clear our heads of ourselves. As a Christian, I believe we are meant to do this by focusing on God, through prayer and meditation. I've always kept a prayer journal where I discuss my issues with God, but now we're working on taking sometime in the morning to meditate, so I can get God's focus on things. It's hard to make myself stop what I'm doing, not rush into my day, and take a few moments breathing. But again, it's starting to pay dividends. I wait on the Lord until I feel a little push to get started with my day. Then I use that push to keep the momentum rolling. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>The Simple Version:</b><br />
<br />
Here are the steps I've put together which I think are the most important for me to implement (prioritisation, I like it)<br />
<br />
1. Resist refined sugar and flour.<br />
2. Go to the gym (4-5 times a week, I do need a bit of rest).<br />
3. Write for at least 2 hours every day.<br />
4. Meditate every morning. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Compound Interest:</b><br />
<br />
The goals I'm achieving almost daily now were individually completely impossible for me to think of six months ago. If I managed even one of these done a day I would have been happy. It shows how all the little effects build together. The more little things you do right, the more energy and ability you have to do the rest right as well. Because I'm meditating, I'm in control and can eat better. Because I'm eating better, I am able to exercise more. Because I'm exercising more, I'm able to sit down and write. Because I'm writing more, I feel happy and satisfied that I'm achieving my goals. It's a matter of identifying the smallest things that will make the biggest difference and building up from there.<br />
<br />
If I had to say just one thing to start you off on, which is tricky because they work together so much, I would say sleep. If you aren't getting enough or good sleep, get this fixed. Everything in life is easier when you aren't tired. Then move onto diet. Putting in good foods and getting rid of bad will have the next biggest effect. Then I'd tackle your thinking, and finally your exercise. They are all a bit of a feedback loop, each becoming easier as you get another one sorted. But the most important thing is to start.<br />
<br />
(Disclaimer: there are certain times in your life when it is
impossible to start a new system or routine. I've created a new start
for myself by moving, but you might not have that opportunity. But there
will be some little thing that you can do to start improving. Even if
it's just having a 20 minute nap.) <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>My ROW 80 Goals:</b> <br />
<br />
Right now I'm 'behind' in my serial, as I thought each episode would be 12,000 words but I'm at 21,000 for the first one and think I need another few thousand to make it work. But I'm still going to work to get this first one done within the two weeks I set myself. So, by next Tuesday, you can expect to see the first episode of The Virtual Boyfriend available as an ebook.<br />
<br />
What changes can you make now to optimise your life, and why haven't you made them? <br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-56616982525253776512014-05-05T22:52:00.000+10:002014-05-05T22:52:35.323+10:00Publishing Basics Part 2 Why I Write To Agents and Publishers<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Red Post Box" height="320" src="http://www.freeimages.com/assets/41/408845/red-post-box-824466-m.jpg" width="212" /> </div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In my last post Part 1 on <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2014/05/publishing-basics-part-1-why-i-self.html" target="_blank">why I self-publish</a>, I looked at the very good reasons for self publishing some of your own work. However, I also mentioned that I still do, and think you should too, send in proposals and query letters to agents and publishers. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first obvious reason is that anyone who refuses to do this usually cites reasons that show a lack of humility. As a Christian, I think humility is an important virtue. The act of sending off my work and waiting for someone to critique it is important in stopping my ego inflating and taking over what little talent I may actually possess. (There might be some ego involved in wanting a traditional publisher to recognise my work, but the stream of rejections keeps that in check.) </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Okay, personal character development aside. The second reason that I like to send out query letters and proposals is that they force me to write engaging product descriptions. Nearly everything that an agent requires in a proposal you need to know to self-publish anyway. By putting a good proposal together, you are forced to assess your target audience and marketing strategies in much more detail than you might otherwise do. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Further, if you get rejected, it gives you an indication that your pitch may not be as convincing as you think. You might also, hopefully, get a piece of advice from a professional. People pay for this stuff. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Third, if you intend to be prolific (like I do), being a 'hybrid' author (part self published, part traditionally published) is the ideal situation. You get greater royalties by self publishing, but generally speaking a traditional publisher will have better distribution. Being a hybrid you get the advantages of both. Your traditionally published books reach a wider audience, and these readers then go and find your self-published works. And for your publisher, the works that you self-publish prove to them your marketability so they aren't taking such a big risk. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fourth, it makes you slow down and realise that your books should be edited, and edited again. If I had self-published the first novel I ever wrote when I thought it was ready, I never would have gotten it anywhere near as good as it is now. Because I've waited for agents and publishers to get back to me, I've worked to improve it, entered it into competitions, and then polished it some more. I've also written a few other books since then, so know what I'm doing. Conversely, writing the proposals for my first book taught me the issues I should think about while writing the rest. I now keep a note open while I write for great pitch ideas or summaries. This has saved me a lot of time and effort later on. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, those are my basic reasons. Got any to add?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>ROW80 Check In:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
How am I going with my goals? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well, I'm writing everyday, which is great. I don't always get to two hours, but I usually get close. I'm currently over halfway through the first episode of my chicklit on internet dating (I'm currently thinking of calling it 'Virtually An Ideal Boyfriend', thoughts?). I had optimistically (it turns out) planned to write each episode as 12,000 words, and publish one every two weeks. So far it's 16,000 words, and I'm 4/7th of the way through (each episode covers a week, that's how I know it's 4/7th). But I like where it's going, and I should still be able to get it written and edited within the two weeks. Just need to come up with a great piece of cover art for it. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For those who are waiting for the second Five Day Writer's book, it is coming. I'm just taking a break to do some fresh writing. I got a bit edited-out with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-Winter-Buffy-Greentree-ebook/dp/B00JZNM7K4/" target="_blank">After The Winter</a>, which, by the way, has been out for almost two weeks. Big thanks to everyone who supported it. You are all great. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, do you think self-published authors should take the time to write query letters? </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-85205290961992757252014-05-01T11:45:00.003+10:002014-05-01T11:45:45.112+10:00Publishing Basics Part 1 Why I Self Publish<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-Winter-Buffy-Greentree-ebook/dp/B00JZNM7K4/" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.amazon.com/After-Winter-Buffy-Greentree-ebook/dp/B00JZNM7K4/" id="main-image" rel="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91WbZxLM0kL._SL1500_.jpg" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51i8d%2Br-jGL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-v3-big,TopRight,0,-55_SX278_SY278_PIkin4,BottomRight,1,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" style="display: inline;" /></a> </div>
<br />
Exciting news; have just self-published my very first fiction book!<br />
<br />
Yes, <i>After The Winter</i> is live on Amazon as an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-Winter-Buffy-Greentree-ebook/dp/B00JZNM7K4/" target="_blank">ebook</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/After-The-Winter-Buffy-Greentree/dp/0992356121/" target="_blank">paperback</a>.<br />
<br />
Considering this big event, I thought I would take the time today to talk about publishing. I've self-published three of my own works now, and I highly recommend self-publishing to most writers. However, I also recommend that all writers go through the process of submitting to traditional publishers and agents as well. But I'll tell you more on that in Part 2.<br />
<br />
Today I'm going to tell you why I self publish.<br />
<br />
There are two facts that most writers need to acknowledge (for a very few it might not stand true, but I've never actually heard of any):<br />
1. Your first million words (give or take a few hundred thousand) are going to be practice. <br />
2. You can't make it with just one book. To become noticed, you need to write at least three books, preferably five.<br />
<br />
Now consider the traditional publishing path.<br />
<br />
First of all, they are expecting great quality work (which they should, don't get me wrong). If you are a debut author, you need to do the drafting and editing until it is as close to a publishable product as possible.<br />
<br />
Second, then they will take 1-3+ years to take that almost ready to be published product and publish it. During this time you will be called to re-work, re-think, and basically chain your life's blood to this book. If you are disciplined you will be working on the next book, but otherwise you'll get to the end of the three years with nothing else ready.<br />
<br />
Third, as a debut author, they are unlikely to do much, if any, marketing for you. It is true that they have a much larger distribution, so if people know to look for you they will be able to find you much more easily, but otherwise your one little book is going to sit on a shelf in a bookstore all alone.<br />
<br />
So after a few years, you're not going to be any further along in your quest for glory.<br />
<br />
However, replay that scenario this way. Think of these first three years as your apprenticeship to the art of writing. <br />
<br />
You start your first year with a, let's be honest, reasonably rough draft (despite thinking it is ready to submit to agents). However, you know that you have to do everything yourself, so you edit it as well as you can (much better than if you think eventually someone else is going to come along and edit it) and you pay for an editor to go over it.<br />
<br />
You then learn about marketing, categorisation, writing product descriptions, what's involved in a good back blurb and cover. In doing this you realise you've written a book that's a pain in the ass to market because you don't have a firm audience. You publish it all the same, and go through the process of getting reviews and building an audience... slowly. You sell a few to family, and through running giveaways you get a few more people interested in it. From this you get some useful (and some not so useful) feedback about your book.<br />
<br />
In the second year you think you know what you did wrong last time. You write another book, this time making sure it's more marketable and fixing up the mistakes your editor pointed out last time. You are already thinking of great taglines and descriptions as you write. You realise now that you need an audience so you start visiting forums and blogs in your area. You get it edited again, and this time the editor can point out a whole new area you might need to work on, now that you've gotten over the basic mistakes.<br />
<br />
When you are almost ready to publish, you contact the people who were kind enough to write a review last time and ask them if they'd like a free pre-launch copy of the second book. Some of the blogs you've interacted with ask if you want to do a guest blog post, and run a giveaway of your book. You publish your book and run another free giveaway. People see it has some good reviews, and so take the time to buy the first one and get the second for free. You then get a bit more feedback. You also try playing with the first book's description, to see if you can get it tighter. You might even republish it.<br />
<br />
Then in your third year you really feel you've gotten this under control. Your first draft is a hundred times better than that initial book, it's market orientated and you've got a killer tagline for the series now. Also, you've got a great team who are willing to review your book and an audience who are waiting for your next book.<br />
<br />
From this point you can choose. You could try submitting the series to a publisher, as you now have a much stronger product (you've had to re-write the first book a bit, but it's better because of it) and can point to your loyal fans. Or you love what you do and decide to keep doing it yourself.<br />
<br />
Another option is to finish this series off yourself, and submit your next work to a publisher. The great advantage to this method is that your publisher will get the new book out far and wide, and people who like that will then go 'wow, I wonder if they've written anything else?' and find your self-published work on Amazon.<br />
<br />
It's also good for the publisher as everyone who loved your self-published work will buy the book they produce. <br />
<br />
Now, if you do something silly like publish three books in completely different areas, say like writing, internet dating, and romance, then it is going to take a while longer. But luckily I'm prepared for that. I think if I haven't made it after twenty years, then I'll think about changing careers. <br />
<br />
I should also point out that despite self-publishing three books, I haven't actually published the very first book that I wrote. Or the very first three books. Those three, a trilogy, are still in the queue for a traditional publishing contract. I love them too much to bring them before I'm working at the standard of a traditional publisher. <br />
<br />
So want to know why I'm holding onto these three to traditionally publish? Well, tune back in next time.<br />
<br />
<br />
But so as not to leave you hanging with nothing to read, I'm going to run a <b>giveaway </b>of my 1920's romance.<br />
<br />
For the next week, until the end of Thursday 8th, leave a comment with the worst line in a published Romance you've read and I'll send you a epub version of my new book; After The Winter.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-53096680785983266222014-04-24T23:27:00.001+10:002014-04-24T23:27:13.520+10:00World Building 101It's a disheartening experience to be part way through editing a first draft to find you haven't actually written a whole section.<br />
<br />
Nothing.<br />
<br />
Zilch.<br />
<br />
Zero.<br />
<br />
Worse, you realise that the reason you didn't write it was because you had no idea what you wanted to say. You knew it had to be said, but the content, the very basics of 'this is my topic sentence' never came.<br />
<br />
I faced this problem a few weeks ago with one of my new books; <i>The Five Day Writer's Bootcamp</i>. The purpose of the book is to build up the strength, endurance and necessary technical skill for a particular project before actually starting to draft. And reading through the draft, there are a lot of good ideas in there, if I do say so myself.<br />
<br />
But on Day 3, when creating a framework for the tone, setting and characters of the soon-to-be novel, I had the heading for a vital subject, world building, but no content.<br />
<br />
Where do you start in developing a quick and easy method for world building?<br />
<br />
Well, thank you for asking. Since I'm rather proud of this piece of cross-discipline work, I thought I would share it with you today.<br />
<br />
First I should mention that I'm talking more in terms of the characters' everyday world, rather than the more technical physical world building, where you are deciding between two suns or three. As I challenge my reader in the book, it's about understanding if, how and why your characters buy milk.<br />
<br />
So where did I start?<br />
<br />
Well, don't let anyone tell you a degree in archaeology is useless, for what does it spend a lot of time doing? Defining and categorising civilisations. And luckily for us writers, it has a very neat systems for doing so.<br />
<br />
All major aspects of a culture can be considered under one of four headings. Thus, by taking the time to define and enumerate these four areas, an author can get a quick and easy in depth understanding of the characters' society, and possibly culture clashes they might encounter.<br />
<br />
Ok, enough teasing, the four categories are ... economical, religious, political and social.<br />
<br />
Now, let me expand these for you a little bit.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Economics: </b><br />
<br />
There are a set number of ways people can trade goods within a society. There are also requirements and restrictions on these different forms. Break these fundamental rules, or ignore them, and your book will be less believable. For example, it's not possible to have a purely barter based economy in very large societies, mainly because it's too difficult to connect with all the people that can supply your needs. Similarly, it's unlikely to have a free market economy with a very controlling government. The main basic systems available are: barter economies, traditional economies (resources distributed by the same groups in the same ways as they have for a long time), command/planned economies (government decides), and market economies, (individuals and companies decide), mixed economies (part market part command). <br />
(In the book I go through in detail what's involved and how it can be used by writers, but that's why it's a book and not a blog post. Sorry.)<br />
<br />
Exercise: to get you thinking, describe how your main character buys milk in the morning, or if they can't, why they can't.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Religious: </b><br />
<br />
This field does not necessarily need to refer to beliefs in a higher being. Some science fiction might have societies that have no ritual practices. Regardless, you need to think of what religion does: answers the big questions. Every society that has conscious beings should be asking and finding some answers to the 'why's of life.<br />
<br />
For example, in this culture, what do they believe happens after death? What is the ultimate purpose to life?<br />
<br />
These are important questions which you need to know your character's answers to. Even if you never write a word of their beliefs, their actions should be dictated by these beliefs. Can be awfully useful if you get them into a situation where you aren't sure what they are going to do.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Political: </b><br />
<br />
So, it turns out there are a multiple different ways to approach defining a culture's political systems, depending on which aspects you're interested in. Sociologists and anthropologists have both studied political systems but with different focuses. <br />
<br />
Anthropologists are particularly interested in the size and grouping of the systems, so categorise political systems into two uncentralised and two centralised types; band and tribe, chiefdom and state.<br />
<br />
Sociologists, on the other hand, are more interested in the figure holding power, and the relationship between the government and its people. They consider three types of political systems: authoritarian, monarchies and democracy. <br />
<br />
Try mixing up different elements of the two and see where your main character is in the political structure, what power they have, and how the system effects them.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Social:</b><br />
<br />
This is a very vague term in the English language which can include all the elements we have discussed already; religion, economy and politics. In fact, all the different aspects or features of societies include: communities, culture, economy, education, government, identity, infrastructure, institutions, land, law and law enforcement, military, natural resources, people, politics, social control, social structure, technology and wealth. I decided to list them all, because they might spark off ideas of areas you could differentiate your society, such as an abundance of a particular natural resource, or a peculiar form of social control.<br />
<br />
While that long list hopefully sparked some ideas for you, an easier to define model has been created by sociology. It identifies six types of society based on their levels of technology and how they subsist. These include: hunter gatherer, horticultural, pastoral, agricultural, industrial and postindustrial. <br />
<br />
Of course, these levels are based on the societies that have developed on this planet, and as you will see the last few have been recent creations. Therefore, it is entirely possible that a completely different system can and will develop, or might have already in your world.<br />
<br />
<br />
And those are the basics of creating your own world. If you can outline the political system, and from that the economic, the religious and the social, then you can get a very good feel for how your character lives their everyday life.<br />
<br />
So why not pick up some basic sociology books to add to your reading list (until my brilliant <i>Bootcamp</i> comes out, of course)? You never know when it might come in handy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>ROW 80 Check In:</b><br />
<br />
So, first week of my term down and dusted, yah!<br />
How did I go with my goals?<br />
I completed at least 2 hours of editing everyday since last check in. Go me.<br />
I went to the gym Tuesday and Wednesday (as it was closed Monday, and I've flown down to Melbourne today/Thursday). So, pretty good.<br />
Didn't write anymore blog posts, some technical failures can be used as a vaguly plausible excuse.<br />
Um, okay, so 1 out of 3 tweets is better than none, right?<br />
And don't even ask about visiting other sites.<br />
<br />
But I'm very happy with the editing I've gotten done. Still on track at the moment to get my 1920's romance published Sunday, maybe Monday.<br />
<br />
In great news, my GoodReads pre-launch giveaway just finished, and over 1,300 people signed up! Furthermore, over 500 people have added it to their 'to read' list. Now, I just need some of those people to actually buy the book and write reviews. Will you be one of them? (stay tuned for actual publish date, and introductory price). <br />
<br />
Why not add it to your 'to read' shelf? <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21570045-after-the-winter" target="_blank">After The Winter</a>, it's coming soon. (The Winter Is Coming... no, that's another series, sorry.)
<br />
<br />
<!-- start LinkyTools script --><script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=230989" type="text/javascript"></script><!-- end LinkyTools script -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-4044631362261147632014-04-21T22:07:00.001+10:002014-04-21T22:09:37.612+10:00Start Of A New Term and The Benefits of Serialisation<b>Start of Term: </b><br />
<br />
One of the great things about working at a school, other than getting a whole lot of paid holiday, is that your life is neatly divided up into manageable chunks: 4 terms, each time a chance to re-prioritise and get down to business.<br />
<br />
(For those of you who don't have such an easy, inbuilt system, a writing challenge like Round Of Words in 80 Days is a great alternative.)<br />
<br />
Today is my first day back at work, so time to look at how I went last term, and what I can do to improve and move forward this term.<br />
<br />
Last term I was overly optimistic about how much I would be able to get done while settling into a new job, etc. In the end I managed to do a few edits of <i>After The Winter</i>, get the cover done, and do one edit of <i>The Five Day Writer's Bootcamp</i>. <br />
<br />
So this term I think I might set myself more realistic goals.<br />
<br />
<br />
My major priority for the term is to establish a strong routine. Yes, I have specific things that I want to get done, but my focus is going to be on doing a bit each day, and not always thinking 'oh, but today is special, I don't have to do it today, I'll do it tomorrow'. This is a recipe for disaster.<br />
<br />
So, considering I work a rotating roster of 4 days on, 2 days off, the goals for my work days are:<br />
- Two hours of writing or editing/day<br />
- Gym every work day that I can (gym not open on Sundays)<br />
- One blog post/day<br />
- Visit at least one blog/day <br />
- One tweet/day<br />
- Read 1/2 a book/ work week.<br />
<br />
I think that should be pretty manageable.<br />
<br />
The next big question is what am I working on?<br />
<br />
After The Winter: my 1920's romance - I've just (today) finished going through the notes returned by my editor. It really made a big difference to the writing so thank you Anna. Tomorrow, I'm going to print off a paper copy and do the final proof-reading edit by hand (I find more typos that way). Hope to get it all finished by the end of the week, and get it published over the weekend. Yah!<br />
<br />
Once that is gone, I've started writing out the story notes for a contemporary romance serial about internet dating. What are serials, you ask? Good question.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>The Wonders of Serials:</b><br />
<br />
A serial, compared to a series, is a story told over a number of episodes that eventually form one book, very much like a TV show will have episodes which are individual stories but are still part of an overarching storyline that is the season. A series, on the other hand, is a number of books.<br />
<br />
I'm going to be writing my serial in roughly 12,000 word episodes, with seven episodes to a season. I plan to publish one episode every fortnight as an ebook until all seven have been published and then bundle them together into a print on demand paper copy. (My hope is to be able to write each episode in a week, then have the second week to edit it, and so publish one every fortnight. Will have to see how this goes.)<br />
<br />
I've been very excited about the serial concept since I first heard about it on <a href="https://selfpublishingpodcast.com/" target="_blank"><i>The Self Publishing Podcast</i></a>, probably about a year ago now. So I'm thrilled to be finally testing it out. The basic theory with serials is that you can get more content out there, faster, for cheaper, which is a great model for self-publishing. It allows people to get a taste of your writing style without too much investment. And if your work is good enough, then they come back each week/fortnight to get the rest of the episodes, or wait until the end of the season when you bundle them all together and publish them as a single book.<br />
<br />
It is not at all a new concept for authors. This is how Dickens and many others produced a lot of their work, serializing it in a newspaper or magazine, then collating them as a book at the end. <br />
<br />
It is also not an unusual idea for modern readers, who get their TV in the same way. There are those who rush home each Thursday night to watch the latest episode and be the first to know what happens, and there are those who wait to get the whole season and watch it in a block.<br />
<br />
For self-published authors it has a lot of advantages. As already mentioned, it gets more work out there, faster, and is more affordable for people to take a risk on (generally serial episodes are around 99c, and then bundled together for something like $4.95). However, it also allows you to do a lot more with KDP Select.<br />
<br />
With a normal book, you get 5 days on KDP Select to give it away for free. This gets it free advertising, but unless you have another book for customers to buy, or it does spectacularly well, not much is gained. With a serial, you have five days per episode, so if you have 10 episodes in one season, that's 50 days of free advertising for that book. Further, you aren't giving away the entire book for free, only ever 1/10 of it. When people download episode 3 for free, they might still buy episodes 1 and 2. Each time you list an episode for free, you get back sales.<br />
<br />
All this for the same amount of work that you would normally put into writing a book.<br />
<br />
Of course, your writing still needs to be good. And you still need to get cover design (which hopefully you can easily modify for each episode), and each episode needs to be edited. Also, it is more difficult to write as you can't go back and change things later on (without seriously upsetting your audience). However, those are difficulties that you can definitely plan against.<br />
<br />
So when am I getting my first episode out?<br />
<br />
Well, I'm not sure yet, but you'll definitely be the first to know.<br />
<br />
And while you are waiting, why not sign up to my GoodReads giveaway for the chance to win one of ten free copies of After The Winter (closes 24th April)? Also, adding it to your shelf is much appreciated :D<br />
<br />
<br />
<!-- start LinkyTools script --><script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=230887" type="text/javascript" ></script><!-- end LinkyTools script -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-51639182961705935102014-04-18T20:26:00.000+10:002014-04-18T20:26:21.723+10:00Quick Note, Check Me Out!Just a quick note to point you across to <a href="http://christianwritersdownunder.blogspot.com.au/" target="_blank">Christian Writer's Downunder,</a> where I've done a guest post looking at the four parts of <a href="http://christianwritersdownunder.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/our-creative-natures-by-buffy-greentree.html" target="_blank">the creative nature</a>.<br />
It's rather good, if I do say so myself.<br />
(Long time First Drafters will have heard the concepts before, but it was a nice refresher even for me).<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-91625328947153623952014-04-05T18:47:00.000+11:002014-04-05T18:47:27.387+11:00Writing Process Blog Tour Continued!In my last post I put up my answers to Adele Jones' <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2014/03/the-writing-process-blog-tour.html" target="_blank">writing process blog tour</a>. However, I failed at continuing the blog tour, not being able to find someone to carry on the torch.<br />
<br />
I can now rectify that situation!<br />
<br />
Lisa from <a href="http://1stoneatatime.blogspot.com/">1stoneatatime.blogspot.com</a> has very kindly offered to pick up where I left off. On Wednesday 9th April she will be posting her answers to the four writing process questions.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="My Photo" class="profile-img" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uUm5h2grdNQ/TxLYR3WbiHI/AAAAAAAAAkE/N3kSDLb-R3w/s200/Lisa%2BHeadshot2.jpg" width="132" /> </div>
<br />
Lisa is a fellow Australian and ROW80 blogger, as well as being an emerging writer and stay at home mum, so she's got some great tips on writing when distracted! She is currently editing three novellas and is exploring the world of self-publishing.<br />
<br />
So, a big thank you to Lisa, and I recommend you all bounce on over and check out her blog before the big day. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-44223515457936572142014-03-31T21:01:00.001+11:002014-03-31T21:01:16.828+11:00The Writing Process Blog TourWelcome to the next stage of the writing process blog tour!<br />
<br />
Last week, the wonderful <a href="http://www.adelejonesauthor.com/" target="_blank">Adele Jones</a> answered four questions about her writing process on <a href="http://www.adelejonesauthor.com/blog/" target="_blank">her blog</a>, and then passed the torch to me to answer the same four questions.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-13" height="133" src="http://adelejonesauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Adele_2011_Aug-062-300x200.jpg" title="Adele_2011_Aug 062" width="200" /> </div>
<br />
I first met Adele last year at the 2013 Caleb Christian Writers Conference, where she won the unpublished manuscript Caleb Award for her forth coming YA novel <i>Integrate</i>, being published through Rhiza Press in September (yah!). <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img alt="Integrate by Adele Jones (Rhiza Press)" height="200" src="http://rhizapress.com.au/images/books/young-adult/integrate/integratesmall.jpg" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px;" width="131" /><i>Trust the science - unless your life depends on it.</i><br />
<i>
</i><i>Blaine Colton had been handed a genetic death sentence until
revolutionary gene therapy changed his life. Living a relatively normal
existence, he is called to an unscheduled post-treatment appointment
just weeks before his eighteenth birthday. Informed that his life saving
procedure was never approved, he is held against his will for his
status as an apparent illegal GMO. Subjected to constant testing,
refused contact with his parents and deprived of life sustaining
medication, Blaine begins to suspect that something is wrong. Wanting
answers, he escapes the Institute and ambitious Chief Scientist, Dr
Melissa Hartfield. Now a fugitive with a failing body, Blaine must find
Professor Ramer, the developer of his therapy. But the Professor has
vanished and time is running out. Fast.</i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
For more about Adele's writing process, check out <a href="http://www.adelejonesauthor.com/writing-process-blog-tour/">www.adelejonesauthor.com/writing-process-blog-tour/</a><br />
<br />
So, now it's my turn to answer the big four questions. Here I go.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>1. What Am I Currently Working On?</b><br />
<br />
While I'm a firm believer in focusing on one task at a time, as you might have noticed I'm much better at giving advice than following even my own. I spent the weekend finishing off my third edit of my 1920's romance, <i>After The Winter</i>, and have finally sent it to my editor for the final check over (unless she comes back suggesting otherwise). I've started a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/87044-after-the-winter" target="_blank">GoodReads giveaway</a> ending on the 24th April, by which time hopefully I will have the book available though Amazon, yah! If you want the chance to win a free paperback copy of it, feel free to enter!<br />
<br />
(On the GoodReads note, I'm just going to say that to the person who has already rated the book, even though it hasn't come out yet, thank you, but why 4/5? Is my description only 4/5 worthy? Or is that your prediction about how good the book is going to be?). <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3eXn0laRdvE/UzktYO_WMyI/AAAAAAAAAgU/D-4SKVr1ZuE/s1600/Final+Art+Deco+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3eXn0laRdvE/UzktYO_WMyI/AAAAAAAAAgU/D-4SKVr1ZuE/s1600/Final+Art+Deco+Cover.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
After spending the weekend solidly editing, I took this morning off (and went shopping; new gym clothes and bras, exciting). But tomorrow I am back to doing the structural edit of <i>The Five Day Writer's Bootcamp</i>. My goal is to have this done by the end of this week, but that might be a bit ambitious (this is just the structural edit, it will need another few rounds after that.)<br />
<br />
As this is the last week of term, I then have two weeks of holidays. During that time I'm going to do more editing of <i>Bootcamp </i>and start writing a new project: a modern rom-com serial. I want to get the plot planned out for the full six episodes and the first episode completely written.<br />
<br />
So, at least no one can say I don't have goals!<br />
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>2. How Does My Work Differ From Others In My Genre?</b><br />
<br />
I'm going to address this in terms of <i>After The Winter</i>, the 1920's romance. One thing that was important for me as I wrote this was not to have a romance based purely on physical attraction. In fact, my main female actively rejects the playboy because he is trying to win her over by being sexually inappropriate. As she later tells him, she is proud of her modesty because she has waited and trusted in love while what he is offering her is second best, offered to too many other women before her.<br />
<br />
I have also walked a thin line between being a Christian romance. I didn't want it to specifically Christian, but when I faced the issue of whether rakes really could reform, I found it period-appropriate to bring redemption and repentance into the discussion. I suppose I will always write 'Christian' fiction, as it will always come from a Christian worldview. Even if I don't quote bible verses, sin is sin and humanity fallen but redeemable.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>3. Why Do I Write What I Write?</b><br />
<br />
I started writing my first historical romance many years ago when confronted with so many that anachronistically put sex in inappropriate places. I was on a discussion board saying that it was possible to write page-turning romances without having sex in the second chapter (or at all, shock horror!). Others told me it wasn't, so I wrote to prove it to them. I planned to write just the first two chapters and posted them, but eventually ended up writing 50,000 words because they kept begging for more, even though through all of that the two characters didn't even kiss. I have always been a huge fan (if you haven't been able to tell) of Georgette Heyer, so knew it could be done. Of course there are some Christian romances out there that are brilliant examples, but really, who doesn't want more?<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>4. How Does My Writing Process Work?</b><br />
<br />
The purpose of the 100 first drafts challenge is to test out lots of different methods, and particularly pantsing (writing by the seat of your pants). I'm so glad I started on the challenge, even if I'm not really keeping up at the moment (damn you full time job, or more accurately, the necessity to pay for life).<br />
<br />
So far, my conclusion on how to write fast and well:<br />
<br />
Step 1: develop the initial image/spark into a set of characters and a desired atmosphere/tone. This will help dictate style and plot development. (My <i>Five Day Writer's Bootcamp</i> is an in depth discussion of this pre-writing preparation.) <br />
<br />
Step 2: write first draft as fast as you can (for me preferrably two weeks). Long writing sessions train you to keep writing through multiple scenes, and help you to enter into the flow more readily (see my previous post on the benefits of regularly <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2014/03/happiness-and-flow.html" target="_blank">getting into the flow</a>.)<br />
<br />
Step 3: Structural Edit - Go through and make sure that the ordering of the story is optimal and realistic; no plot holes, that chapter flows into chapter, and paragraph into paragraph.<br />
<br />
Step 4: Copy Edit - Make sure the language is optimal, that appropriate terms are used, tone and style are consistent, check for repetition, weasel words, etc.<br />
<br />
Step 5: Proof Read - I often contract this out as proofing your own work is really hard, but I am learning to print off a copy at the end and with a pen read through it line by line, making sure that each sentence is the best that it can be.<br />
<br />
You can see why turning my first drafts into published books is taking me so long! But every time I do this, I pick up on my own idiosyncrasies that weaken my writing, and next time I do a new draft it is stronger. <br />
<br />
<br />
<b>And Now The Bad News:</b><br />
<br />
So this is meant to be a blog tour, so I was meant to get someone to follow after me. Here would be the part where I would introduce them. Unfortunately, I'm a bad blog tourer. I only bothered to ask one person, and I only saw their message yesterday saying they couldn't do it. So yes, I'm that person that kills the tour.<br />
<br />
If there is another writer out there reading this in the next week, and would like to pick up my fallen torch, email me at b.greentr@gmail.com and I'll give you a proper introduction.<br />
<br />
<br />
And don't forget to sign up at <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/87044-after-the-winter" target="_blank">GoodReads</a> if you want to win a free copy of <i>After The Winter</i>!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-86680506196431732832014-03-27T15:44:00.000+11:002014-03-27T15:44:32.611+11:00The Dreaded Book Description - 15 Top Tips To Writing It<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Magic Book" height="320" src="http://www.sxc.hu/assets/183031/1830306857/magic-book-1204250-m.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="305" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bring the magic of your book to your description. (Photo courtesy of ostillac callisto at stock.xchng)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
I have come to that time again. I've done the drafting and a bit of editing. I've spent hours playing with different cover designs and finally found one that I like. And now, in order to start the pre-launch GoodReads giveaway, I have to write the dreaded book description.<br />
<br />
I know what the book is about, I wrote it. So why is it so hard for me to summarise it in 150-400 words?<br />
<br />
Well, partly because it's not just about summarising the book. It's about creating a piece of writing that is more fantastic than the whole book put together. It is about creating the few words that will sell all my other words, that will justify and pay for all the hours of work I've put into writing this book.<br />
<br />
And sadly, how much time do I usually put into writing these all important words? Usually about ten-twenty minutes while I'm loading it up onto Amazon (or making the back cover, or creating the GoodReads giveaway, or ... you get the idea).<br />
<br />
So this time, a month before I hope to release my brand new historical romance, I've taken the time to do some research into what other authors suggest as the top tips for writing a selling book description (I've focused mainly on fiction books, as it is quite a different skill to sell a non-fiction book, though I did also apply these tips to my Online Dating guide.)<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Top 15 Tips for Writing a Fiction Book Description:</b><br />
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Read the descriptions of the
top 10 books in your genre. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">I cannot recommend this one
enough. I've just been putting this into practice and it's amazing how helpful
this is. Remember that your audience probably has read these descriptions, and might be
comparing you to them right now to see which one they want to buy. Use that! Differentiate yourself as well as copying their strong points. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">The first line needs to sum it
all up. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">You need a hook here at the beginning. Don't be afraid to even separate out a tagline to draw someone in, the big guys do it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Make it clear. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Best way to do this is to not include subplots Stick to the main story. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Write in genre. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Your description writing should
be a good indication of your book's style, and should meet the expectations of
the reader. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Don't be boring.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Even if you think it is
necessary to explain something, if it's boring, cut it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Play to your strengths as a
writer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Great at building atmosphere? Good,
do that. Superb at dialogue? Quote a bit of it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Recreate the atmosphere of the
book in the description. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Sprinkle your writing with
power words, highly emotive words such as tormented, obsession, charismatic,
etc., to build tone fast. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Make your characters live.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">You want your reader to fall in
love at first read with your characters. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Don't be afraid to reference
other books. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Especially in the beginning or
finishing lines. I've gone with 'The light hearted banter of Georgette Heyer
with the fun and fashion of the Art Deco period' because it tells people
exactly what to expect. Just don't say you are the next Tolkien. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Leave the reader wanting more.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">If in doubt, end on a cliffhanger. Or use open ended questions to make your
reader need to know what happens next. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Err on the side of short. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">When in doubt, cut. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">It doesn't have to be all one piece of writing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Mix it up with a quote from the book,
your tag line, a description and some great reviews. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Write in the present tense, third person </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">If writing fiction, non-fiction
can break this rule. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">Where possible, include reviews. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">No one needs to know that 'Amazon
Review' was actually from your Aunt. If your Aunt happened to say something
snappy and true, then use it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">[Optional] A call to action.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 72.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US">This is not a necessary step,
and more natural in a non-fiction book, but there is no reason not to have one
with a fiction book. Something simple like: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pick
up your copy of </i>After The Winter<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> to
find out if a rake really can change his ways. </i></span></div>
<br />
<b>My Personal Hates In Desctipions:</b><br />
<br />
Now that I've covered a few do's, I thought I would share a few of my most hated don't's as a reader.<br />
<br />
1. Giving away the twist. Why, why would you do this?<br />
2. Lying in the description, saying things that don't actually happen.<br />
3. Not saying anything.<br />
4. Talking only about the author, not the book.<br />
<br />
<b>Testing The Theory:</b><br />
<br />
Now, I don't want you to think that I'm all talk. Not only did I apply all this to my historical romance, I thought I would test out the theory that it makes a big difference to sales by editing my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nice-Guide-Online-Dating-Profiles-ebook/dp/B00GS1GE9G/" target="_blank">Nice Guy's Guide To Online Dating Profiles</a> description.<br />
<br />
I will be completely honest and say I did a very last minute job doing the last description. I had totally forgotten about it and so when I came to load the book onto Amazon I suddenly had to put something together. So, I cut a bit out of the introduction which I thought gave the general vibe of my writing and described what I was going to be talking about. It wasn't bad, but it definitely wasn't following all of these rules.<br />
<br />
Also, the sales of the book haven't been amazing. After the first few weeks, when I stopped promoting it and the buzz died down, I wasn't getting many sales at all. In fact, for all of March I haven't had a single sale of it.<br />
<br />
I have to admit I was skeptical that changing the description would really make any difference to a book that was so low down on the sales list. The description can really only help if people are already finding it, right?<br />
<br />
Well, I changed it, and within a few hours of it going live, I had my first sale for the month. Seriously.<br />
Now, I know that's not the amazing story a lot of people tell, 'within the first day I was in the Top 10 best sellers on Amazon', but going from no sales to 1 in just a few hours is pretty amazing when you think about it. So I'll just have to see how it keeps going. And I might try playing around with my Five Day Writer's Retreat description.<br />
<br />
But to finish off, I thought I would get your input into my description for my historical romance. I actually have two options for the main body and I don't know which one works best. What do you think?<br />
<br />
Quote from book:<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">'You, sir, are a flirt.’ Miss Lucinda Hargraves held firmly onto her hat. </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">‘A flirt?’ The play of the smile around his mobile mouth was rather
distracting.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">‘Yes … I think. I have not had a lot of experience, but I think so.’</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">‘And are you not worried about being seen alone in a car with me, if
I’m such a terrible flirt?’</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: 18.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; mso-fareast-font-family: Georgia;">‘Well, I have to admit I did consider it, but in all honesty, no one
would ever think I was the type of woman a man like you would find
interesting.’ She took a deep breath. ‘It is actually quite a liberating
experience.’</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Main body possibility 1: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">At 27 Lucinda Hargraves is too old to
believe that rakes will reform for the love of a good woman. It may work in
books, but this is the roaring 20's where men just want a good time and girls
are left broken hearted. So the more the charismatic Lord Everdale pulls
out his usual tricks for winning over women, the more skeptical Lucinda becomes
about his motives. But what if for once Lord Everdale is actually being
serious? Is there anything he can do to prove to her that he really has
changed? And can he do it before it's too late, or will she choose the upright American John Huntington the Third
instead? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Main body possibility 2: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It's the roaring 20's and Lord George
Everdale has a reputation he wants to maintain; fast cars, fast women, good
times. Lucinda Hargraves has a reputation she believes can't be damaged; spinster,
modest and now in possession of a large fortune. So when Lord Everdale comes
crashing into Miss Hargraves' life, it seems an unlikely pairing to everyone.
But could Lord Everdale be correct, that opposites attract? Or is Miss
Hargraves more on course when she predicts that a playboy never changes? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Finish line: </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The light hearted banter of Georgette Heyer
with the fun and fashion of the Art Deco period. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Any thoughts?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Also, I'm running a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/87044-after-the-winter" target="_blank">GoodReads giveaway</a> for the book to mark its launch on the 25th of April. So why not enter or add it to your shelf? </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-46374909341105941592014-03-19T19:54:00.001+11:002014-03-19T19:55:34.100+11:00Happiness and The Flow<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="224" src="https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/ap-southeast-2.accounts.ivvy.com/account21134/imageLibrary/5320edd91e981.jpg" width="300" /> </div>
<br />
Okay, so the concept of the creative flow has been a favourite with me for a while. I even dedicated a section in my first writing book<i>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Day-Writers-Retreat-ebook/dp/B00BRAIPPE/" target="_blank">The Five Day Writer's Retreat</a></i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Five-Day-Writers-Retreat-ebook/dp/B00BRAIPPE/" target="_blank">,</a> to looking at what it is and how writers can utilise it for better productivity and enjoyment. Though, I haven't thought about it for a while now. <br />
<br />
Today I was handed a print out of information on tomorrow's 'Happiness Day' (yes, tomorrow is UN Day of Happiness, in case you hadn't realised). The handout was all about how frequently entering into the flow is one of the greatest secrets to happiness. (For more information and a copy of the ebook, see the blog <a href="http://www.thinkandbehappy.com.au/living-flow-secret-happiness/" target="_blank">Think and Be Happy</a>.)<br />
<br />
How cool is that?<br />
<br />
It is based on the work of a leading psychologist Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (say that five times fast). As he states:<br />
<br />
"It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life. We can be happy experiencing the passive pleasure of a rested body, warm sunshine, or the contentment of a serene relationship, but this kind of happiness is dependent on favourable external circumstances. The happiness that follows flow is of our own making, and it leads to increasing complexity and growth in consciousness."<br />
<br />
For those who don't know what I'm talking about, flow is that sensation of the world and all physical sensations slipping away, where you are perfectly focused on what you are doing, and don't notice time passing, there is a sense of accomplishment and excitement about what you are doing.<br />
<br />
I first noted this sensation when I read. The moments where the words disappear from the page and all you see is images in your mind, feel you are part of the world and inside of the story. You can read all day and forget that you need to eat and sleep. <br />
<br />
I have also experienced this (occasionally) when I'm exercising. You get into the motion and nothing seems to matter, you feel like you keep going forever and each stroke is a joy. It doesn't always happen, but it's fantastic when it does.<br />
<br />
And then I noticed that I had it when I wrote. The computer and keys would disappear, and I would just be watching the movie of my characters, rushing to keep up with them, feeling their emotions, rising and falling with them.<br />
<br />
Entering into the flow with writing is the main reason I want to be a writer. It also happens to make me a better writer. My writing is smoother and more emotive, my characters more realistic and natural. Also, my writing speed can easily double.<br />
<br />
<br />
And now I have scientific support that it makes me a happier person afterwards!<br />
<br />
According to Professor Csikszentmihaly it is possible to create flow in any challenging task. Passive pasttimes such as taking a bath or watching TV can be relaxing, but don't create it. (Some might say that reading is also passive, but the transformation of words into images appears to give it the challenge necessary.)<br />
<br />
<br />
So what advice does Professor Csikszentmihaly give for creating flow in anything? <br />
<br />
1. Choose a task that's challenging: not too easy, but not too hard.<br />
Reading Spot Can Run probably won't do it for you, but then again, so mightn't Stephen Hawkins' A Brief History of Time. <br />
<br />
2. Similarly, set clear and realistic goals.<br />
Part of the happiness at the end of a flow state comes from a sense of accomplishment. It is much easier to get that sense if you know what you wanted to accomplish. Australian author Kate Forsyth recommended setting a writing goal for the session which would stretch you, such as 5,000 words.<br />
<br />
3. Identify your motivation.<br />
The professor argues that you need to be doing a task that you are naturally drawn to in order to enter into the state. Therefore, if you confirm before hand why you want to be doing this, it can help.<br />
<br />
4. Be proactive.<br />
Procrastination is the evil twin of working in the flow. It is allowing all external distractions to break you away from your task. If you regularly give into procrastination, you weaken your ability to focus. Also, you add stress and pressure to each new session which can destroy the sense of flow.<br />
<br />
5. Don't focus on your performance or try to force yourself into flow.<br />
The goals are to give you a sense of accomplishment at the end, but to try and measure how you are going while you are working breaks your concentration, the foundation of a flow state. So ignore the goals while you are working.<br />
<br />
6. Create the right environment.<br />
This will vary for individuals, for example some people need music to tune out while they work, while for others it's an added distraction. So you need to experiment with different factors to find out what works for you.<br />
<br />
7. Give yourself enough time.<br />
It takes at least 15 minutes to enter into a flow state, and once there you want to make the most of it. So when practicing to utilise the flow, give yourself much longer sessions than you normally might.<br />
<br />
8. Minimise interruptions and distractions.<br />
Common trouble makers: open door, phone, internet, email alerts. Get rid of them all as much as you can.<br />
<br />
9. Monitor your emotional state.<br />
Sometimes it is almost impossible to enter into a state of flow because you are all worked up, and no amount of putting away distractions and setting goals will give you the peace necessary. Taking time to work through some of these issues, or practice relaxation methods to quieten your thoughts can turn a potentially bad session into a great one.<br />
<br />
10. Regularly engage in tasks that encourage a flow state.<br />
Practice makes purpose. The more you do it, the easier it will become. <br />
<br />
<br />
Now, time to go and enjoy the benefits of writing!<br />
<br />
Update on my writing:<br />
I've now been up in Brisbane for just over two months. Wow, feels like a lot longer.<br />
I'm settling into a good routine writing in the mornings, going to the gym, then working from 2.15-11.15 pm. I'm not getting as much writing done as I had optimistically thought, but at least I'm getting something done, and trying to do it consistently.<br />
<br />
Since I last wrote, I've finished off my work on A Little Bit Of Leaven, and entered that into the Caleb unpublished manuscripts competition. Looking forward to getting some feedback on that.<br />
<br />
I then spent a few weeks working on a structural edit and the layout for my brother's second book. Got some proof copies sent out which he has done another edit on (he prefers to work on paper, so likes to have the books printed up and proofs sent out so that he can see the mistakes better. It's actually a pretty good system, if slightly expensive (or time consuming for me!).) I've now got to do a few more changes and then redo the proofs.<br />
<br />
I finished the second draft of After The Winter (my historical romance) yesterday, and now have it with a few trusted beta readers. I've lost my ability to judge if it 'works' or not. Once I get their feedback I'll do another edit and then get it proof-read. Then it will be ready to go, yah!<br />
<br />
Today I went back and continued editing The Five Day Writer's Bootcamp. It is filled with great information, but at the moment it's a bit all over the place. I'm going to go through it and then send it to one of my editors for a structural edit. Then I'll work on polishing it.<br />
<br />
I've also been reading a lot. In the last two weeks I've finished off 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat' (really interesting book on a neurologist's case studies of different disorders), then Ian McEwan's 'Enduring Love' (love McEwan's writing style, it's so beautiful). Last night I finished off 'The Millionaire Next Door', which reinforced to me the need for self-discipline. And now I'm reading 'A New Guide To Better Writing' published in 1947, always good to keep reading about writing. <br />
<br />
And tomorrow I'm going to focus on being happy!<br />
<br />
<!-- start LinkyTools script --><script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=222753" type="text/javascript" ></script><!-- end LinkyTools script -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-72001875105360062532014-02-23T23:11:00.002+11:002014-02-23T23:16:10.727+11:00The Write Environment<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img class="irc_mut" src="http://blogs.longwood.edu/cannon479/files/2013/01/environmental-writing-typewriter.jpg" height="185" id="irc_mi" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 118px;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creating a good writing environment is hard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Thank you everyone for your support of my last unproductive week in the comments of my last post on <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/2014/02/essential-writing-concepts-add.html" target="_blank">ADD</a>. Unfortunately, errands just keep popping up, the more you do, the more there seems to be done!<br />
<br />
This week I managed to spend one of my free mornings editing my brother's book. The next morning I had a very frustrating time changing over my license and registration (yes, I'm officially a Queenslander now... still not sure how I feel about that, as I know I'm a Victorian at heart), which also involved me being accused of illegal dealings while unsuccessfully trying to take off my VIC number plates, and having to ask a homeless man to help me as I couldn't completely unscrew them. Luckily I look pretty innocent. I did a bit more editing the next day before going out to lunch with a work colleague, and then the day after my mother and little sister flew up to Brisbane to visit for the weekend.<br />
<br />
So here I am on Sunday with only a bit more editing done (and a few ideas of my boarding house book, Artemis Fowl meets St. Trinians). <br />
<br />
It's time to do some thinking (and for me, praying) because something isn't right.<br />
<br />
I'm not achieving as much as I feel I should. Which means one of two things:<br />
<br />
1) something is holding me back from working as hard as I could.<br />
2) I have unrealistic expectations of how much I should be doing.<br />
(Or possibly a mix of both).<br />
<br />
I know I've only been in Brisbane just over a month, and there is a lot of stress involved in moving, starting a new job, setting up. Also, I'm now working a full time job, even if it does start late it is 8.5 hours a day, which just doesn't leave that much extra time when you need to fit in the rest of life as well.<br />
<br />
Having said that, even when I do have time, I'm not dedicating as much to writing as I could.<br />
<br />
The question for me is why? <br />
<br />
I was sitting behind one of the girls in chapel, and was reading the writing she had on her T-Shirt. It was a collection of positive sayings, one of which really jumped out at me:<br />
<br />
Create a life you love.<br />
<br />
It struck me because I love my new job, and I have so much going for me, but currently when I think of the little life I'm creating for myself here, it's not something I love.<br />
<br />
As silly as it sounds, I haven't yet furnished my apartment in a way that makes me feel at home there. This means I don't enjoy sitting in there writing and thinking. There is not enough beauty in my life at the moment.<br />
<br />
So I'm going to spend time thinking and acting this week to fix this. I want to make my apartment an oasis that I feel completely at home in and inspires me creatively. I'm going to make it beautiful and relaxing. I just haven't decided how yet, because Brisbane is completely different in atmosphere to Melbourne. While making a snuggly, warm place with lanterns and cosy furniture worked there, it won't work in Queensland. I need to make a more tropical atmosphere. It's just so unusual to me that I don't know where to start. Well, okay, I do know where to start: PINTEREST!<br />
<br />
So, I'm off to do some pinteresting as my goal for this week. <br />
<br />
What sort of environment inspires you to write? <br />
<br />
<!-- start LinkyTools script --><script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=222740" type="text/javascript" ></script><!-- end LinkyTools script -->Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-24347532939840821892014-02-16T14:51:00.000+11:002014-02-16T21:22:13.987+11:00Essential Writing Concepts: ADD<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2083/1603743023_c30e7f6ee9.jpg" height="320" id="yui_3_11_0_3_1392518713505_429" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="228" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy of Chris Corwin at Flickr</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are many writing concepts that, once pointed out are so obvious that you are sure you knew it all along. This is one of those. It is the clarification of an idea, a marking out the boundaries of something so obvious that you will instinctual know it. However, in realising it intellectually, you will be able to assess your writing anew and with more insight. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
All prose is made up of three things: A D D (which doesn't actually stand for Attention Deficit Disorder, in case you were wondering). </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Action</i>: Mary picked up the glass and threw it at his head.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Dialogue</i>: "You pig. How dare you bring her here?"</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Description</i>: The room was brightly lit, and the expensive sound system played hits from the 90's. Waiters with champagne glasses on silver trays paused, and peroxided ladies in glittering dresses held their breath. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That's all there is in a novel, the combination of bits of action, dialogue, and description. Sometimes description can include action, or action description, but the division of the two is necessary for understanding pacing. Action moves a story forward, while description is pausing to look around. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At different points in the history of prose, and in different cultures, the ratios between these three things have varied. As previously mentioned, I'm working to edit and develop a piece written by my great grandfather over half a century ago. The first thing that struck me was that the manuscript has a very large amount of dialogue, and almost no description at all (which, by the way, is quite annoying as I can fill in the dialogue, but have more trouble developing the description of early 20th century Scotland.) Discussing it with my grandfather, he pointed out that it used to be considered the height of sophistication to be able to move a story along by the dialogue, without the need for description. But nowadays so much dialogue leaves no room for the imagination. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Each genre has its own requirements for how much of each you should use. Take action/adventure, Matthew Reilly as an example. To keep the pace up, the books have large sections which are just action and dialogue, with reduced description. Then, move across to the romance genre, and say Georgette Heyer, and you get long descriptions of every article of clothing worn. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Similarly, a writer's particular style is developed from how they choose to use these three elements. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In another post I will look at how to utilise the three in your pacing. But as a basis, writing should be made up of equal parts of the three. In
peaks of tension, you might have more action and dialogue, and the
troughs of your story will generally be more descriptive. However, over
all, most pages should have some of all three. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Exercise:</b> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now if you are editing a work, try this exercise to better understand your own writing. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Take three different coloured highlights: one for action, one for dialogue and one for description (this can also be done with the highlight feature in your word processor).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Go through your entire manuscript highlighting every part into one of the three.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Are there pages that are predominantly one colour? This is a bad sign, and you probably need to break this up a bit. (This is one of the big problems with "The Ill Made Mute", a book I loved, but there were pages and pages of nothing but description, which I ended up flicking past until I say the next set of quotation marks.)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>ROW 80 Goals:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, last Monday I set the following goals:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- Finish the first run through of Bootcamp and sent it off for a structural edit.<br />
- Started editing After The Winter.<br />
- Create the cover for Bootcamp (I want to play with the one I already
have a bit), and start a Goodreads Giveaway for the hard copy, giving
myself a deadline for when it will come out.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
How much of that have I done? That would be none. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Instead I dedicated this week to getting all those other life errands fixed that require time and energy. I got my car cleaned, picked up the screws I needed to fix my desk, went to Ikea to get more storage for my room, put my car into the mechanics, finally got my hair done, and organised my little flat a bit more. And somehow that was my week gone. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
So, the only solution is to try again this week. Wish me luck!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-18802212073940641482014-02-10T23:19:00.001+11:002014-02-10T23:19:36.819+11:00Anna Karenina and The Advantages and Disadvantages of Head HoppingIt might have taken me a month, but last week I finally finished Anna Karenina by Tolstoy.<br />
It is an amazing book but I did wonder if you sent it to a modern, Western publisher today what they would actually say. I'm sure they would take a large red pen to huge chunks of it which are not essential to the story.<br />
<br />
But the main thing from the book I want to look at today, because it is considered one of the big 'no-no's' of modern writing, is head hopping. That is, changing points of view between characters. <br />
<br />
Anna Karenina is all over the place, sometimes switching points of view within a paragraph. There were times when I wasn't actually sure whose head we were inside. And at one point I worked out we were in the head of the dog.<br />
<br />
Showing us the different points of view in places added to the story (I meant enhanced the reading experience, but now I come to think of it, it is equally true it added the the page count.) With the large number of characters giving their own opinions made a delightful, or extremely sad, comparison between natures. This struck me at the beginning of the story where we first see things through Oblonsky's point of view, and how he feels he is justified in having affairs on his wife because she now has the children to look after and has lost her good looks. (Okay, when Tolstoy says it, it seems more reasonable). But then a little later we get his wife's point of view. Dolly was completely in love with him, and has give up her beauty and figure to bear him children. She spends her days sorting out the domestic issues that come from him spending all their money, and yet its not enough for him. She feels utterly betrayed and heart broken.<br />
<br />
The poignancy of the situation could not be gotten across except by showing us both points of view.<br />
<br />
Having said that, making us connect with these two characters, and then numerous others who are not the main characters, I think does detract from the connection with Anna. Perhaps it was because I knew she committed suicide at the end anyway, but going through chapter after chapter of other people's issues, problems and perspectives, I never connected very much to Anna. Her death was not that great a tragedy for me as at least Levin and Kitty got a happy ending, and I cared more about them than Anna and Vronsky. We kept coming back to Anna after months of interval with other characters, and each time she was in a completely different state which I struggled to keep up with. She seemed like a different character each time. <br />
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Now I want to compare this to the next book I started reading: The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. (It was only after I started reading it I remembered that the main character in this also kills herself and yes, on the weekend I had to see Disney's Frozen just to make up for all the doom and gloom). I haven't finished the book yet, but already I'm much more invested in Lily Bart because 90% of the book is her point of view. We occasionally get glimpses of the thoughts of other characters, but it always comes back to Lily. What we learn through seeing other people's thoughts is used to explain what is going to happen to her. They are background brush strokes which highlight where the main character is being led to and why. For example we get a bit of a digression into Lily's cousin Grace Stepney part way through chapter 11. However, comments such as 'Even such scant civilities as Lily accorded to Mr. Rosedale would have made Miss Stepney her friend for life; but how could she foresee that such a friend was worth cultivating?' Suddenly we are given the hint that understanding Grace will help us understand Lily's ultimate demise, and what was pointless now becomes very important indeed. (Of course, I'll need to finish the book to find out exactly how this happens. I've only seen the movie many years ago, so can't quite remember how it all plays out.) <br />
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I would recommend a study of the points of views in both books for those who want to understand the advantages and disadvantages of head-hopping within fiction. If you have as much space as Tolstoy did, you can take long discursions into other people's problems and interests. However, you risk your audience losing their connection with the main character. If you want a sharper, faster paced book then Wharton's use of point of view, where other POV's are carefully used to show the reader the unavoidable path the main character is being led along, is very effective.<br />
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Having said that, experimenting with using just one point of view, letting the reader be surprised with the main character, is a very interesting exercise. Once I realised the effect head-hopping had on the connection between my character and the audience, I stopped it. I now look carefully at who I want the audience to be interested in within a scene and show it from their point of view. For some books this means always the same person, but in other books I change it to bring in conflict or greater understanding for the audience. I recommend you try changing the point of view and see how that affects otherwise flat scenes. <br />
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As to my own writing:<br />
I am currently waiting for the proof copy of the paperback for The Nice Guy's Guide To Online Dating Profiles from Amazon. It should arrive tomorrow, yah!<br />
I ran a Goodreads giveaway for it which ended tonight, and 666 people entered. Is that a bad sign?<br />
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I didn't get through the first two days of Bootcamp by last Wednesday, as I had hoped. I'm still working on it, and today found a whole new section on different genres I should add to help the reader. Hopefully I will get that finished tomorrow morning, and finish Day 2 as well. Will just have to see how much I can get done before work.<br />
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I've been sending off proposals to agents for 'A Little Bit Of Leaven', so all prayers for that gratefully received. I fulfilled my quota and sent a few more as well, so that's one goal met. I also made it to the gym three times last week, so another goal met. <br />
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Finally, reading The House Of Mirth has made me wonder whether I should change the character of Lucinda Hargraves in After The Winter a bit. When I finish Bootcamp I'm going to start on that, just need things to fall into place a bit more. For those who have read <a href="http://www.100firstdrafts.com/p/after-winter-first-chapter.html" target="_blank">the sample chapte</a>r on the Synopsis page, do you think she is a bit wet? Would she be better a bit stronger, even if it is to the harsh side? <br />
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This Week's Goals:<br />
- Finish the first run through of Bootcamp and sent it off for a structural edit.<br />
- Started editing After The Winter.<br />
- Create the cover for Bootcamp (I want to play with the one I already have a bit), and start a Goodreads Giveaway for the hard copy, giving myself a deadline for when it will come out.<br />
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That should probably do.<br />
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Anyone read a book with a lot of changing points of view that really worked? <br />
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<br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-961575487165132975.post-47875126285195141182014-02-02T23:22:00.001+11:002014-02-02T23:22:15.960+11:00End of My First Week With The GirlsIt is 10.30pm on a Sunday night, and I'm just settling down 40 teenage girls down after a day at Wet'n'Wild. Yes, that is as fun as it sounds: hyper active, sunburnt, over-tired and already having boy issues. I'm so glad I'm not 16 again!<br />
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This is my last shift for my first week as a boarding house supervisor. It has been a very full on week, but I think I'm finally getting my 70 girls names down (Year 10 and 11), though I still have no idea about the other 100 girls in the other year levels. <br />
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So how has my writing gone in all this time?<br />
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Not as badly as you might expect.<br />
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I put together the proposal with chapter summaries for 'A Little Bit Of Leaven' and have started sending it out to US agents. The first one I emailed has already gotten back to me, which is kind but as you might suspect not a good sign. Though he did send it to one of his reviewers to read through, and didn't say anything negative about the manuscript. The only problem is that he's not taking on new authors at the moment, so 'it was a matter of timing'. Not much I can do to overcome that. But that was just the first on the list, so just going to keep plugging along. <br />
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I also started editing 'The Five Day Writer's Bootcamp', and have gotten through the preface and introduction. Needs a bit more polishing, but reading it through again is not totally disheartening. Whether I will be able to get it ready in two weeks is another matter entirely. But still, everyone needs a goal.<br />
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Still going with Anna Karenina. It is a wonderful book, but sometimes the pacing makes you wonder if it will ever finish. However, if you ever want to know how to do great characterisation and similes, this is the book to go to.<br />
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Tomorrow is the first of two days off, so until Wednesday's check in I'm setting myself the following goals:<br />
1. Go to the gym twice or for a swim. <br />
2. Finish the print on demand cover for 'Online Dating'<br />
3. Finish the formatting of the text for 'Online Dating' and order proof.<br />
4. Submit queries/proposals to three more agents.<br />
5. Finish Day 1 and 2 of Bootcamp.<br />
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That should keep me busy!<br />
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How is everyone else going? <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11625617346595249494noreply@blogger.com2