Research! Research! Research!

Bloody hell....I'm exhausted.

It's been one of those ultra-busy weekends where I did a lot of socializing and dashing about and not much along the lines of writing. I know I needed to get out and be a social beast, but I have to admit feeling a wee bit guilty about neglecting my "other" job.

Of course, I'm talking about writing and now self-publishing.

Writing used to be my "other job" all by its little lonesome. It was my "other job" I could neglect because I was busy with the real job or just living my life. But when I became very serious about it last year, I did a lot of research on how to be more productive in my writing and turn out a damn good book. I felt I elevated myself to the next level as a writer and I am proud of the work I produced last year. My "other job" really did become another job!

Now that I have fully come to understand exactly what publishing and the gatekeepers are all about, I have decided to self-publish my work instead of waiting around for years hoping that someone in the publishing business is actually interested in a well-written horror novel about zombies. Which means self-publishing has now become my other "other job". How's that for a tongue twister?

I admit I now have a big ol' soft spot for Cliff Burns. He's a damn good writer and I love his rants. I love them because they are honest and from his gut. I love a straight talker. My husband is one of those people. When he's passionate about something, by God, you're gonna hear about it. So Cliff Burns was the first self-published writer to catch my eye, but I've now found the blogs and websites of quite a few "indie authors" that have a wealth of information. It's not just their commentary on the gatekeepers of the publishing world, but the sharing of their own experiences with the traditional publishing world and self-publishing that I find encouraging and educational.

Here are two of the blogs I've been reading the last few days:
http://mickrooney.blogspot.com/
http://aprillhamilton.blogspot.com/

Both authors have very interesting tales to tell and share a lot of information. Mick Rooney is posting about his experience using Lulu.com to publish his novel and shares his knowledge of how to format your own novel and how to submit it to Lulu. April Hamilton's blog has a lot of great links and she has put together what she calls her Indie Author Guides. I am just starting to review her guides and so far they are quite informative.

The more research I do, the more I realize I am part of a new movement. The new media has swung open an unknown door to countless writers that have GREAT ideas, can write a GOOD story, but do NOT fit the preconceived notions of the publishing world. I feel excited to be one of the indie authors that will hopefully pave the way for others.

There will definitely be a difference between people who can't write, turn out horrible work, and throw it out there in a sloppy format (I've seen these) and those determined to put out the best work possible.

I am determined to put out the best work possible.

And one more thing...

I'm not going to bother querying the traditional publishers. I realized that this would be a waste of my time and slow me down. I need to concentrate on what I am doing now to get my writing out there to my fans.

As for the future....who knows?

Anyway, I'm exhausted and need to sleep soon.

A new story is up on fanfiction.net for people to read. It is a rough draft, but its a good story. It's about two of the more popular minor characters from As The World Dies: Ken, the resident cute gay boy and his best friend, Lenore. I've had one reader express her discomfort with Ken being gay, but I have a ton of great gay friends and they will have representation in my books. I love people in all their shapes, colors, sizes, sexual orientation, religious affiliations..etc. The world is full of diverse people and my stories will be too.

Meanwhile, I'm happily formatting As The World Dies and getting ready to start the revisions on the second book in the trilogy.

It's fun to be an independent self-publishing author of zombie novels.