Rescue

I wrote a story called Rescue which is set after Justice Lost but before the sequel. I intended it as just a scene, an experiment, exploration of character and setting, but it grew into a fully-fledged story. I won't say novel, because it's only 13,000 words. Now for what to do with it. Should I sell it or post it for free?

Finished!

Finished my romance scifi novel today. 61,000 words total! 2400 words today, a "marathon" to finish it, but it didn't feel like it. The words came quickly and smoothly so I'm hoping it's a good sign.

Now, on to the next story! Sequel to Justice Lost. I may write a short story before though, we'll see what happens. 

Contradictions

After searching about information about writing on the Internet, I learned:

- not to start a blog because there is no money in it

-blogging is the best way to earn a living writing on the Internet

- No one pays you for content writing

-you can make a good living writing content 

Now, are the naysayers right? Or are the optimists right? Or is there no one right answer because everything is relative? That is, it depends on how you do it, if you're prepared to take the steps necessary, if it's something you want, etc etc. 

Today I learned... There is lots of contradictory information on the Internet, and you have to take every piece of information with a grain of salt, positive or negative. 

I guess I did know that before. 

I did find some helpful URLS (and I prefer the positive ones--because you can always test something, fail, and at least you learn how NOT to do something):

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/sherry-gray/you-really-can-make-a-liv_b_9393902.html

https://elnacain.com/blog/make-money-freelance-writing/

And I signed up for a webinar tomorrow about how to start a $1000/month business in a weekend with: Chandler Bolt, Self Publishing School

and found a document I had saved about how to make legit income working at home:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/7-legitimate-home-jobs-20-070210442.html

Self-publishing: 3 Super Marketing Tips!

Self-published authors often have trouble connecting their books to a market. As a self-published author, I know what it’s like to need a way to market my ebooks.

In “7 Bestseller Book Marketing Strategies for Fiction Writers” Jonathan Gunson says that due to Amazon and self-publishing, publishers only promote top 1% of authors, and so even if you don’t self-publish, you will be doing a lot of the marketing legwork, so you need some good strategies to market your self-published book. http://bestsellerlabs.com/7-bestseller-strategies-for-writers/

 http://bit.ly/1S9rH5Y

  In "10 Winning Marketing Strategies for your Self-Published Book", Robert Bidinotto explains that traditional publishers will let you do the marketing, which is not so different from what self-published authors must do, so it's important to know the best ways to market your self-published book.

http://www.bidinotto.com/2013/03/10-winning-marketing-strategies-for-your-self-published-book/

I’ve distilled 3 tips from these 2 articles that will help you market your book to its maximum potential.

-              Write sequels: Make sure you have the best book possible to start with, and then write sequels. Hook people with characters and plot, addicting them to one novel after another.

-              Target your reader: A narrowly focused genre will draw a specific, enthusiastic audience. Know your audience—its age group, its hangouts on social media, its passions.

-              Create a brand: Hone what’s unique about you and make it go through all of your promotions. Have a good platform to propagate it--a central blog, a hub to showcase all of your content.

Using these tips, be consistent and persistent, and you will sell copies of your book in no time!

-              I am a self-published author of 2 sci-fi books, Justice Lost and Beyond the Rim. I’m passionate about finding exciting new ways to market books. I’m taking the Social Marketing Specialization with Coursera at: http://bit.ly/1N5wtx2. You can find me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Tumblr.

Justice Lost--new on Smashwords!

Justice Lost, science fiction adventure. Buy on Smashwords: Justice Lost

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I fell from the sky, lightning flashing all around me, zapping into me. Bursting into the ridge where my thigh met the metal of my artificial leg, the white-hot agony of it slammed me into blackness.

I woke up with my cheek lying against damp grass, facing the morning light spread across the eastern sky. As soon as I moved, sparks danced across my skin. I stayed on the ground as still as I could, dreading the moment when I would have to move my leg. In front of me, strapped to my arm, the Channel device snapped with blue fire.

At least I made it through alive, I thought. And more importantly, I've stolen the Channel back from the Conglomerate. The mission wasn't a total failure. Except that the Channel malfunctioned between our worlds, and I have no idea which world I've landed on. This is definitely not Mag City.

One thing was for sure, a professional spy wouldn't stay lying here, no matter how much it hurt to get up. Dad would give me an earful if he saw me 'not taking the initiative'.

I gathered all my strength and pushed myself onto my knees. There. Not so bad. My leg was almost numb. I breathed a sigh of relief, and looked around. Behind me, in the early morning light, stood a grove of trees—no, what was the word? A forest. We didn't even have forests on our world; neither did the Conglomerate—a choking mass of smoke and dark buildings clustered together in the rain, gray streets with soldiers always marching through them—the opposite of my world, City Magnificent. The sheer number of trees here astounded me. And in front of me lay a vast plain, the dark silhouettes of large animals of some sort moving across it near the distant hills. We didn't have many animals on our world, but I felt a twinge of longing for Sabra, my saber-toothed cat. I had been going home to see her, and Dad, and my sisters and brother, and Mom, and now—this detour.

stories-journal

I've written 2 short stories but I'm not sure if they're any good or if they're just background. I'm going to write at least 3 stories and see if they're salvageable. If not perhaps I'm just working on something that isn't going to work. But if I don't work at it it won't get anywhere either. So how do I know when enough is enough and to focus on something that can get somewhere?
You never stop evolving as an author. At least I hope so. I hope I have not hit my pinnacle of ability to write. I often think this and then a good story will hit me and I'll have to write it. But those bits of inspiration which result in GOOD stories don't come often enough, and I plug away at mediocre ones. I need to be able to write a whole bunch of good ones and sell them! 

BOOK $2.99

Buy Justice Lost!
Justice March crash lands on a parallel world. Before he can find a way home, he encounters dangerous inhabitants who want to know his secrets. Will he be able to escape, or will this strange new world destroy him?