Smashwords

The Journal, Saturday, January 20

Hey Folks, Another note on process. Despite the word count I posted earlier for The Keeper of the Promise: The Origin Novel, after omitting the two short stories I mentioned yesterday, and after a few thousand words of other cuts, the novel finally came in yesterday at 56620 words. Last night as I glanced over it, I realized it was mostly complete and flows well. The one thing I didn’t do was set up the protagonist as a series character with a lead-in to the next books. Not good, since I wrote the thing in the first place to lead … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, January 13

Hey Folks, Well, leave it to fate for interesting stuff to happen while I’m on the road. See (or listen to) “25 Book Promotion Tips” at http://blog.smashwords.com/2018/01/25-book-promotion-tips.html. For ideas on how one writer’s mind works, see Dean’s “One More Adventure Day” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/one-more-adventure-day/. It’s very short, but interesting. I wrote a little on the novel last night, but nothing to mention. More to keep my hand in than anything else, I think. By the way, I now have books available in nine different bundles, ranging from SF to action-adventure to romance to westerns. To check out these incredible values (newest … Read more

The Journal, Monday, January 1

Hey Folks, Streaks really do have immense power. When one’s been going for awhile, it’s actually a struggle to break it. I broke this one after 714 days. It took on a life of its own, and there were many days when the only thing I wrote was this Journal. That seems a good thing on the surface — as in, at least I was writing — but there were times when posting the Journal to avoid breaking the streak took precedence over writing fiction. And that is not a good thing. For that reason, I plan not to post … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, December 30

Hey Folks, As part of my prep for 2018, over the past month or so I’ve been developing a new way to brand my covers. Specifically, the author name part. Here’s the way my author name will appear on covers into the future: The background will blend with the cover. Of course, the font colors and the background behind my first name also are adaptable. You’ll see this in a cover below. Branding is all about making your work easier for readers to find. That’s why one precept of cover design requires that, even in the thumbnail version, both the … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, November 4

Hey Folks, In “Of Interest” below, I mention a Smashwords podcast. It’s all about how to work with beta readers. As such, it extolls the virtues of letting readers into your work and (I’ll bet) mentions none of the downsides. You all know that I often employ a first reader. That’s one avid reader who knows exactly what to look for (specific places where confusion ensues, inconsistencies, and OBVIOUS wrong-word issues IF they pop out at him) and what to leave alone (literally everything else). Sometimes, with some stories, I ask Kenneth to look for certain overall things: Is there … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 11/1

Hey Folks, Wow. November already. For that matter, 2017 already. What happened to 1978? Just sayin’. I failed to mention yesterday that we had a little visitor. In the pre-dawn pitch, I was at my outside desk when I heard a sound that seemed not part of the usual early morning sounds. I grabbed my torch (I like the Brit “torch” so much better than “flashlight”) and went looking for my kitten. As I stepped past the southeast corner of the house, I shined the light to the west. Toward the southwest corner of the house, something was sniffing at … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 10/21

Hey Folks, Well, I spent much of the morning on the Jerry Jenkins website I told you about yesterday. Here are my recommendations: — take advantage of the free giveaway for signing up for his newsletter. You can always unsubscribe later. — take advantage (with a grain of salt, as always) of the appropriate blog posts and other items listed on his Resources page. — take advantage of his blog, which I finally found at https://www.jerryjenkins.com/blog/. — be careful of spending money. Like many of these sites, it exists primarily to upsell you on other products. — avoid getting a … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 10/11

Hey Folks, Well, my subconscious is out wandering around the universe on its own, chasing shiny objects and worrying about absolutely nothing. I hope it’s having fun. I got through the first full day without nicotine. Today is day two. From here on out, it’s just a matter of will power. Well, that and fear. I am a recovering addict. At the moment, I’m going through the rough part, although that will end soon. But if I take even one more hit of my drug of choice, I’ll have to go through the rough part all over again. Remembering that … Read more

The Journal, Saturday, 9/16

Hey Folks, Even after a relatively late night, I rolled out at 3:30 this morning. Not sure how much I’ll get done in writing today since it’s Saturday. TOPIC: On Challenges, Part 2 Note: This follows on yesterday’s topic. If you haven’t read it, you can find it at http://hestanbrough.com/the-journal-friday-915/. At the beginning of the calendar year, I challenged myself to write 15 novels during the year. Later, after an intended novel fell short and ended as a novella, I adjusted the goal to 16 novels or novellas. That should have clued me I was in trouble. It didn’t. I … Read more

The Journal, Wednesday, 9/13

Hey Folks, Not a lot other than reading and writing (very little arithmetic) going on at the old homestead today. It feels like a do-nothing day, but I don’t want one. Besides, I need that like I need a cliché in my head. I finally broke down and took my lawn mower in to a repair shop. That and surrounding details and sidetracks ate up the first two working hours of the day. I started playing at the novel right at 10:30. It’s now almost 1:30 (I’ve done some other little stuff too) and I’ve written barely over 1000 new … Read more