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Let’s Celebrate Self-Published Literary Fiction

I published my first novel way back in 2008. I’ve published a couple of books since then. I’m not one of these authors who can write a novel in a month, but I’m constantly writing.

Anyway, after kicking around in the self-publishing world for a little while now, there is one thing I’ve noticed. Self-published literary fiction doesn’t really sell. I’m not sure why. I’ve read lots of theories, but who knows if any of them are right.

This is bad news for me, because I write literary fiction. I try to squeeze my books into other genres sometimes, but in reality they are literary fiction. I’m through pretending they are anything else. I’ve tried to write a genre novel or two, but frankly I’m not that interested and rarely complete them.

My heart is in a particular kind of story. The only way my readers or this world will get the best from me is if I concentrate on writing those stories.

Much like my writing, the books I love to read are also literary fiction. I’m more interested in the arch of character development than a action packed story. Cliff hangers at the end of chapters seemed forced and annoy me. I love to read about relationships and life as seen through the eyes of someone else.

So I’ve been thinking that it would be good if self-published literary fiction writers share their audiences. That’s why starting today I’ll be showcasing some self-published literary fiction authors on this site.

I read a lot, but don’t tend to read self-published authors. That’s solely because I’m a library goer who loves to peruse the shelves for books, but that’s also going to change. I’ve been making an effort to read more self-published authors recently and I’ll be talking about their books on this site. Maybe I’ll even start doing some author interviews.

I’d like this site to celebrate not only reading and writing, but more specifically reading and writing self-published literary fiction. I hope you’re all on board.

Until next time,

Photo by Poesia

Announcement

Hi All,

I haven’t written on this blog in a while. Mostly because I’ve been focusing on finishing up my latest novel and other things. I’ve recently decided to focus all of my blogging efforts on my humor blog, Nebulous Mooch. I invite you to check it out for a laugh.

Hope to see you there.

Lovelyn

One Baby Step at a Time

Hi all,
I read something the other day where they were talking about the importance of just showing up. This doesn’t have to be just about writing even though it is quite true for writing too. It is about most everything you want to do that is worth accomplishing.

I’ll use writing as an example because it applies to my life, but I want to make it clear that this isn’t a just a blog for writers. I’m writing to anyone interested in bettering their lives. I started writing a zombies series not too long ago. I finished the first draft of the first book and have it with one of my beta readers now. I’ve been thinking about the second book but haven’t really gotten around to writing. I can use the excuse that there were just too many things going on in my life at the time. That is true, but it’s one of those statements that could always be true.

The truth is that I just wasn’t taking the time to sit down and start the book. I would sit down at my computer and do a lot of other things, but I just wasn’t getting around to starting the book.
I was avoiding it, and I was quite frustrated and unhappy because I knew I was avoiding it. I still haven’t figured out the reason for my avoidance, but I did get over it.

I decided that I needed to open up a fresh Word document, sit at my desk and just write something. That sounds like a simple solution and it is really, but I just wasn’t doing it. Sometimes you need to disconnect your computer from the internet so you can stay focused. I was sitting down at my computer everyday, but wasn’t really showing up to write. I was showing up for Facebook and the millions of blogs I read instead.

Don’t set goals that are too big …

I listen to a lot of personal development podcasts and on one they talked about an approach someone has to help people start exercising regularly. I don’t remember who it was, but if you’ve heard of this let me knew in the comments. This person encourages their clients to start exercise in the smallest steps to ingrain the habit in them. They start out by having their client just stand on a treadmill for a few minutes everyday. They do that for a while and then the client is asked to walk on the treadmill. They build up to longer more vigorous exercise.

The reason I’m telling you this is because there are some people who think of things as being all or nothing. They go on a diet, but they slip up once and then the whole thing is blown. Why not pig out since I already had a milkshake today? That’s not the way it needs to be though. Sometimes you need to work up to something. You might start with a smaller step like standing on the treadmill for a few minutes everyday or like by bringing a healthy lunch to work instead of eating out.

If you’re trying to write a novel, but you’re having a hard time getting started, don’t start with a goal like writing a chapter everyday. Instead start with a simpler goal like writing a paragraph everyday. Just showing up everyday to write that paragraph will start the ball rolling as they say.

Take baby steps …

Moving in the direction of your goal is important, but if moving in big steps is so intimidating that it’s keeping you from getting started try baby steps. Baby steps can still get you going in the right direction.

Another good thing about making your goals to get started so small is that you’re guaranteed to reach them. I used to make giant goals for myself all the time and when I didn’t reach them I felt depressed and worthless. That’s not a good feeling and it definitely doesn’t do anything to get my motivated to continue.

With tiny goals, you’ll probably be able to accomplish more than the original goal. That means that instead of feeling terrible about yourself you’ll feel pretty darn good. That good feeling will give you motivation to do even more. Then that ball will start rolling and before you know it you’ll be halfway toward you goal.

So start with the simple things first – Show up and then take it one baby step at a time.

Lovelyn

Getting Up and Moving On

I’ve had a lot of breakthroughs in my writing and my personal life recently. I’ve changed the way I look at life and the way I relate to the world. It hasn’t all been sunshine and sausages though. I’ve had some setbacks too. My most recent setback happened just the other day when the stress of moving got the better of me and I was sent into a downward spiral of worry and despair. That sounds a bit melodramatic, I know, but it’s true.

When you have a setback in your life it’s easy to just say forget it. This isn’t working and abandon the changes you’ve already made for the comfort of your old familiar habits. My advice is not to do that. Change can be hard at times but it is worth it. There will be struggle, but you can get through it.

Originally, I thought about including a list of great people who overcame a lot to change in this post. Those lists can be inspiring, but sometimes they can also be damaging. You might find that you start comparing yourself to the people on the list and thinking, What’s wrong with me? Why haven’t I done anything useful yet?

Comparing yourself to others won’t put you on the path to happiness and success. Envisioning your ideal outcome and doing what it takes to move toward that outcome will. If you fall down, dust yourself off and get right back up. That’s how you can accomplish the big goals–one baby step and a time.

Some Thoughts about the Culture of Free

I went to a party the other day and got to talking to someone about the state of affairs on the internet today. Mainly I was talking about writing and self-publishing. I explained that I self-published my novels and exactly how that worked. The person I was talking to was a musician. As soon as I started talking about self-publishing he started going on about how technology and the culture of free has completely ruined the music business. Now anyone can make music, put it online, and give it away to peoplee, because it’s their hobby not something they do to feed their family. Their is some much free music available online that people expect something for nothing and it makes it hard to make a living. He and his partner had quite a lot to say about the subject and seemed to be under the impression that the state of the internet today was ruining things for all artists in general. It was interesting to listen to, but I find myself disagreeing.

The internet has changed the game that is for sure. Yes, there is a culture of free right now. Yes, that makes it difficult to earn money in the same way you’re accustomed to earning money. It hasn’t ruined things for creative people though. It’s just changed things.

You can’t get stuck on the same track doing the same things over and over again, and expect that to work forever. The world we are living in is changing everyday. You have to become an innovator and figure out how to use the new situation to your advantage. A big pile of complaining isn’t usually the answer.

I started reading Seth Godin’s Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? the other day. I highly recommended. It’s really gotten me thinking about things.

This is just a quick post today. I have a lot of writing to do. I’m working on a zombie book. I just thought it would be something fun to do for a change. I’ll release it under a pen name later this year.

Anyway, hope you’re doing well. Back to work.

Lovelyn

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