I thought my daughter was home this morning, so I spent my time reading blogs. I fully expected her to come talk to me any minute. Turns out she helped a girlfriend with her hair last night and stayed over there. I figured it all out when her car wasn’t out front.
I worked on a short story and finished it at 4569 words. This one involves Lisa Burton in a story tentatively named Bombshell Squad. I don’t love the name, and the story still needs a little something. Do short story writers work on draft after draft, because this is where I’m at with it? Part of writing about the robot girl is she needs to be more than human to come across well. I have to put my thinking cap on here and let it ferment. Still, it’s a fun story.
I’m not going to run these on my blog. I have it in mind to bundle them up with some Macabre Macaroni micro fiction and publish it.
I went back to my final (maybe, fingers crossed) pass through Will O’ the Wisp. It’s nearly ready, and re-reading it got me really excited. I have to send out some emails to the readers and make sure they are ready at launch time. Some have weighed in, some have not.
I also made contact with a blog tour company. I don’t have a lot of young adult contacts, and Wisp is a young adult novel. I don’t know whether to beg the blog world, or use a company to help me spread the word. My theory is this company has a broader reach than I do. Of course, I still have to write all the posts. Maybe I can do a bit of that this afternoon.
I jumped ahead with my critique group and sent them an important section of Wisp. I really want their input on this section, and won’t send them Wisp chapters after it’s published.
I also managed about three paragraphs in my current novel. I’m still chopping my way through the middle and had to abandon a scene that wasn’t working. I don’t feel any pressure here, and getting it right is more important than speed.
I’m also trying something new in my marketing approach. I’ve tried the Kindle Countdown and the free days. Every time, I moved a bunch of books, but with no real purpose or benefit that I can see. There have been a few folks who expressed interest in one story or another. I’ve been offering them copies via email. Maybe giving select copies away is more like casting bread upon the water. I haven’t asked anything in return, and don’t intend to. Maybe I can change my Karma somehow.
In other news, I began a regimen of pumpkin seeds (raw) and saw palmetto tablets. The pharmaceutical to reduce my prostate has some side effects that I’d rather avoid, and it is a treatment for life. Since prostate issues are slow going, I figure my next PSA blood test will let me know if these work. If they don’t, I can start medication at that time. In a perfect world it would all just go away, or there would be a one time treatment. Since that isn’t the case, I’m exploring all my options.
Questions for the day: Hit up the blogging world or hire a tour company? (This book is worth it.) Should I allow a gap of a few months and do both? Am I in the right ballpark for a short story word count? Would anyone like to read it and offer an opinion?
I’m not sure what the word count for a short story should be, so I’m no help there. I would attempt both with a break in between. That would help you gauge their effectiveness. What exactly does a blog tour company do?
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They gather up the hosts for the tour and schedule everything. I send all my posts to one location and they dole them out. The hope is they have more young adult contacts than I do.
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Interesting. That definitely would help with genres that an author lacks contacts in.
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Yeah, it’s definitely in my wheelhouse, but appropriate for a different reader. I never set out to use sex or violence, but won’t shy away if it’s appropriate. In this case it wasn’t appropriate.
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Surprisingly, you can get away with more violence than sex in YA. Well maybe not that surprising.
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Good to know. There is one rather bubbly death scene, but the main character doesn’t participate in it. Another death happens “off camera.”
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Bubbly death scene? We talking melting or like a bubbly personality?
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It’s a paranormal story, but more like drowning.
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Got it. 🙂
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Do both!
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That seems to be the idea so far.
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I’ve heard three to six-thousand words. So I think you’re good to go.
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Cool, thanks.
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According to Glimmer Train you’re in the ball park for your short story. As far as blog tour– sorry, can’t help you there. I don’t switch genres. From reading your comments, though, it sounds like a good idea. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.
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I really don’t switch genres either. I have everyone fooled into thinking I do. I will have to post about that one day.
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I think you should do both. You can measure which works best for you that way. Your story sounds spot on. You can chuck it my way if you want an eye casting over it… always happy to read a CS Boyack story! And yes, defo publish the book of shorts!
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The shorts thing is going to happen. Several folks have looked at some of the micros. I’ll send the short when I’m back home. We’re out to dinner tonight. Just us, nothing special. Thanks.
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I love reading all of your work, so if you want to send it my way, I’d be happy to comment. I also ADORE WOW, and think that whatever it takes to get it out there will be worth it in the end. Then again, I haven’t self-published yet, so I’m not the best one to give an opinion on this. I also live the March wallpaper… What is in that jar? It looks like Chinese writing. 😉
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It’s so hard to find a good photo of leeches.
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LOL!
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I can’t help you with YA stuff, but I would say 4-5k words is probably the perfect length for a short story, if it’s sci-fi and you’re planning to submit it to a magazine. I can read over your short story some time, but it will take a while, I’m expecting a fairly busy March.
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Thanks for the offer. I’m going to bundle them up and self publish. That way I can play with the lengths a bit and be safe. For one price they actually get a novel length book of shorts.
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Short story lemgth… All mune are about that but i got some flack from an Amazon reciewer for categorising one as a short story when he was clearly expecting at least 10k words amd a twist in the tail. That’s better now I’ve explained that there’s no twist and given the length of the actual story in the product description. One to bear in mind though. Good luck with the pumpkin seed regimen. Fingers crossed it works.
Cheers
MTM
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I may be safe by bundling a group of them together. I read somewhere that saw palmetto and pumpkin seeds are actually prescribed by doctors in parts of Europe.
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I could believe that. 🙂
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Sorry I’m using my iPad. It has auto correct but it only works sporadically on WordPress…. And usually on things that don’t require correction.
Cheers
MTM
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I use one too. I have the same Damned problem. (Like the capital letter it just forced upon me.)
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It’s very strange isn’t it?
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Yes, and when I want to capitalize something it does ?This.
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Sounds like a productive weekend. Good luck with pumpkin seeds, too. Idea for title of short story – ‘It’s A Bust?’ 😉
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Good title, thanks. At least pumpkin seeds are good. If the recommendation had been for crickets or something it would have pushed me toward the pharmacy.
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Regarding Wisp, go for maximum exposure. Use the touring company but also hit up the blogging world because each will have reach to blogs that the other doesn’t. I’ve used both with mixed results on both. And you can definitely break in between to keep the momentum going. I finished Wisp last night and loved it. Will be sending my thoughts in you by email a little later today. Congrats on an entertaining tale!
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Wow, thanks. That was quick. I’m going to do both. Now I have to decide what to pre-write as blog posts. There are so many twists and turns its impossible to avoid spoilers.
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On the short story, keep re-doing until you’re happy with it. There’s no limit. Just don’t get so hung up that you lose the spark.
On your YA novel, look around and see if there are any children’s writing resources. A local children’s librarian or book store staffer might have ideas. Also, SCBWI is an organization specifically for children’s writers, and you may be able to connect with critique groups through them. The main organization’s web site is scbwi.org and there are local regions that have in-person meetings open to everyone, not just members only.
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I know a few people that do tours and reviews mostly YA, and a tour would be a great idea.
I’m up for helping Patty. 😀
I’ve been doing short stories at 2K-5K, a novelette is 7.5K to close to 20K.
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Did I read the short story?
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There are several now, so if you read one, you’d didn’t see them all. Do you have any shorts to exchange? That’s the writing buddy gig.
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