Who's Lazy

There was a link on Facebook yesterday to an article written by the best-selling, crime writer, Sue Grafton. She had caused a stir by accusing indie writers of being lazy. It seems she had to withdraw the accusation because of the reaction from the public. It made me wonder what must have been going through her mind when she said that, and would she have said that before she became a published writer. The old saying “struggling in a garret” comes to mind when I think of people like myself who wanted to write but could never get off first base because of the hurdles that always seemed to get in the way. For most of us, no doubt, it was having to work for a living before getting home and cracking on with the novel. Then there was the problem of convincing a literary agent that your work was worth considering. And then of course the battle to find a publisher. How many of us have received rejection after rejection, not because we were not any good, but because of the system? I would think it would be a very high percentage. And getting a book published is not a guarantee of success either, which means it’s a case of back to the drawing board and on the treadmill again. But what about the best-selling authors? I’ve lost count of the times I’ve read the credits in the beginning of the book where the writer acknowledges the help (without them I could never have written this book) that reads like a who’s who of the publishing world. Compare that to the working man or woman who cannot get on with their book until the kids are in bed or the housework is done. To call indie writers lazy is an insult. No-one can produce a full length novel by being lazy. There was a mention too (somewhere) of using a professional editor to ensure the book is fit to be published. Has anyone seen the fees these editors charge? That’s why indie writing is a bit like do it yourself: you do it on the cheap. But if the talent is there, if you have the gift, a publisher will pick you up whatever the state of the grammar and punctuation, make no mistake about that. So I would say to people like Sue Grafton to whom the article was credited, come down off your hobby horse and take your mind back to the days when you didn’t even have a novel in print. That’s what the indie writers are doing all the time. Well, most of them.

Keeping up the Struggle

A good many indie writers like myself are struggling to sell their books and consequently build up a readership, which I believe is the key to establishing yourself as a writer. I received my public library statement last week, and it tells me that my books were loaned out about 4500 times. Some may say that this not a lot, but the previous year my loans figure was 6000. I know a large number of public libraries have closed in UK, which I think is so sad, but it’s an inevitable sign of the times as younger people turn more to electronic entertainment and celebrity culture. When I think of my figures, I can see people searching through the library shelves and picking one of my books up as soon as they see my name. I used to do that when I visited the library: as soon as I saw a Hammond Innes novel, or Nigel Tranter, Alistair Maclean and a host of others, I would grab the book from the shelf and jealously guard it until I had finished making my choices. There are other elements to selling books of course, and here I’m thinking of reviews and catching the public eye. Reviews can be lifting, but they can also be damaging, and one thing that authors do not like is for a review to be personally damaging, rather than expressing an opinion that he or she simply didn’t enjoy the book. We have all experienced differences of opinions in life, and know that sometimes words are spoken that are simply not true. I was called “lazy” by one reviewer. I wondered if that person really understood what a writer has to do to produce a book. In my case it usually takes about a year. This includes research of course, which is time consuming and often I find myself reading stuff that I later reject. Then the act of sitting down and writing follows, and this can be tedious at times, even stultifying and no fun. Other times it can be enjoyable because the words seem to flow on to the pages like a flood. But I am not lazy, and no genuine writer deserves to be called that. And after all that work you find that a literary agent or a publisher doesn’t like it and so it goes on; rejection after rejection. I am fortunate because I have a publisher and a contract. Providing I produce a manuscript that my publisher thinks will sell, and remember: my publisher knows I have a bunch of people who will read my books, which increases the chances of sales, then I have a result and possibly an extension to my book contract. I enjoy writing. It isn’t a chore for me, nor is it a career; it’s my hobby. And so I will go on writing, publishing my books on Amazon (once the publisher has given me the paperback rights) and feel genuinely optimistic that there are readers out there who find that I am a writer who knows how to tell a story: a good one.

Falling Behind

 

Falling behind again. Just when I think I have a firm plan, life gets in the way. It’s a good thing that my writing career is just a hobby; otherwise I would be in trouble. I’m in the process of revising SHADOW OF THE WOLF. The reason I’m doing that is because the book, which was published in 1984, is only 55,000 words in length. I feel that I would short change my readers if I published that on Amazon as it is. I would have to set a low price too, and from what I read about Amazon’s business plan, it sets its algorithms against low priced books. I’ve no idea if that’s true, but compared to the prices of my other books, I would probably have to set the price at almost a giveaway. The story is set during World War 2, which means it doesn’t have to be modern or topical. It’s almost historical in some aspects, and I am confident that I can expand it without taking away the strength of the novel. I have had people say it’s my best novel, but I always think the latest book my publisher accepts is my best: it means I still have a contract!

I also planned to develop a low key website, but I have been very lax in doing much to it. My son, the one who designed www.michaeljparker.com believes I should turn my attention to writing rather than web building. I think he’s right, but I’ll use my new site as a kind of a toy, hoping that one day it will be good enough to release on to the world. By that time I’ll probably have run out of enthusiasm. But once I have my revision out of the way, I will begin my latest novel which is set in Mexico and USA. I know how the book starts, but I have no idea yet how it will finish. Aren’t most writers like that? Wish me luck!

Webs and Wars

I’m still having fun learning some of the finer points of website building, but it’s the easy bits I’m having trouble with. I am making progress and hope to shout to the world that I have launched my low key site. This is where I hope to highlight some of my books’ pages, maybe talk about my characters, and whatever else comes to mind. Meanwhile I still have a project to complete: the copying and conversion of my short novel, SHADOW OF THE WOLF. When this book was first published in 1984, some friends of mine at work thought it would be a good idea to make a video game out of it. We all got very enthusiastic about the idea and actually made some progress. In those days video games were in their infancy; nothing like the wiz-bang stuff of today. We planned to have a video case style game where the book nestled on one side and the game on the other. The idea was to play through the game and use the book for clues. At different points in the game there were ‘get me out of jail’ clues that pointed to certain pages of the book. The guys who were producing the game knew what they were doing, whereas I was more or less a keen bystander.  I can’t remember why we never reached production; perhaps the whole concept was way ahead of its time, and probably a little bit over our heads. But we had great fun while it lasted. Maybe now I will have the chance to see my book selling well once it has reached Amazon. The story is set during World War 2 on the remote island called North Cape, off the north coast of Scotland. The island was a whaling station, now defunct, and finds itself under German occupation for a brief period. The Germans are looking for the plans of the new British weapon, centimetric radar, which is having spectacular successes against the German Wolf packs. The plans were hidden there by a German agent who disappeared, and the Third Reich is keen to find the plans before the U-boats finally succumb, and the war is lost. Great fun! Hope you’ll all put that down in your diaries as one to watch out for. Wish me luck.

Happy New Year

It’s January 1^st. today, the start of 2013, and first of all I want to wish all of you who read my blog, wherever you are in the world, whatever your colour, creed or religion a Happy New Year. I do hope that your year will be fruitful, that you will be blessed and that we will all see a wonderful change in the world’s circumstances. Looking back at my own experiences in 2012, I have to say that I had a good year. In March I was lucky enough to get my books in to the relatively new, Kindle Select programme on Amazon. As a result of that I sold over 7000 e-books, and my rankings remained fairly high through most of the year. They have now fallen substantially, but I’m hoping to lift those with my ‘developing’ network plan (must have a plan, eh?). My wife and I were able to visit Australia to see our son and his family. We went to Singapore and Bangkok during the four weeks we were away. We also managed to grab a week with one of our sons (John) in Dorset before travelling. The Olympics in UK gave every one of us a lift I think. I know some people were of the opinion that money shouldn’t be spent in vast quantities like that while the world is going through a recession, but I think the results were positive and uplifting. I was also called upon to preach six times during 2012. This meant a great deal to me because I feel that I am being directed by God and He has given me these wonderful opportunities both in my life and my writing. I have plans for 2013 with respect to my writing, but I’m not making any New Year resolutions; just a promise to myself that I will be more disciplined and rational in my approach to social networking and self-promotion. To that end I have started a new website. This is what I would describe as a ‘low key’ site intended only for me and my books. And a bit of chat. I haven’t much in the way of web building skill, so my site is not going to rate highly in that department, and it is still a ‘work in progress’. But if you want to have a look, you’ll find it at www.readawhile.com Hopefully you’ll drop in and have a look. But please remember, it’s still in the process of being built. I will still keep my main website up to date, one that is administered by my son, Terry. So, that’s it for the moment. Once again I do hope you all have a wonderful 2013.