Guest Post by Dean E Smith-Richard

Hello everyone! This is my first time having a guest blogger. I am excited and it will be a nice change from my normal posts. About the blogger and author: Dean E Smith-Richard is the author of the 3024AD series, a science fiction series, with the emphasis on science over fiction. The Kickstarter for the first series of short stories is going on now. You can follow him on twitter for more scifi and crowdsourcing geekery.

Here is what he had to say:

I am writing this about 13 hours after I launched the Kickstarter for my first short story collection. I have been a fun bundle of nerves to be around, believe me. But it's off to a great start and I'm feeling pretty good. When I announced there would be a Kickstarter campaign for it, a self-published author I have a lot of respect for asked why I needed a Kickstarter.

Why, indeed. After all, with the advent of e-publishing as a viable means of self-publishing, the rules have changed. Up until recently, self-publishing was tantamount to giving up- it meant you weren't good enough to get published and marketed. Now with the reach of ereaders and the decline in traditional publishing budgets, it is fairly easy to publish a book to Kindle and the like.

So why a crowdfunding campaign before the book is even out? For one thing, it allows some of the biggest problems with self-published books to be mitigated- namely, editing, formatting and artwork. These can cost thousands of dollars professionally, and that's money most aspiring authors don't have lying around. Crowdfunding those costs can allow you to have your work formatted and edited professionally- thus giving you a more polished product to offer for sale when it is released to the general public, increasing its likelihood of success. It may also allow you to afford cover art that would otherwise be out of your price range, giving it more eye appeal as readers browse.

Another huge advantage- and a fun one, in my opinion- is the buzz it can build around your release. You might be able to have cool promotional, limited edition items that would otherwise be to expensive or just impractical. But by getting your readers involved before the book is even out, they are going to be that much more likely to spread the word once your book is actually out.

Are there risks? Certainly. There is always the risk of failing in meeting your goal, but that carries little financial risk (only whatever you put into promotion). However, the crowdfunding campaigns I have seen fail are not so much due to content as due to planning and execution. How can you avoid failing in your campaign?

First, do your homework. There is a wealth of information on successful and unsuccessful campaigns just a Google search away. Read all you can find. Most whose campaigns failed are candid with what they could have improved- take that to heart. Emulate what made campaigns succeed.

Along with that, you need a base you can count on. This may be hard if this is your first published work, but it's not impossible. If you are active on social media, that is a start right there. Keep a blog where you talk about your writing. Let people know well in advance of any campaign, and tease it with excerpts or quotes. Relying on people to find you via Kickstarter is unreliable- at best.

As to the campaign itself, set realistic goals. There is a lot to take into account- the actual costs, the costs of rewards, the costs of shipping said rewards, the variable number of backers. Your goal needs to be the least it can be while covering all your costs in a variety of scenarios (I have a excel template that I happy to share; drop me an email if you would like a copy). Take a look at other projects that got funded that are similar to yours- what was their goal? Their rewards? Your reward structure is huge- are they inviting? The last thing you want to do is take away opportunities for people to pledge- but people do it all the time, leaving massive gaps in their reward structure with little incentive to pledge more. Kickstarter advises “offer value”- if you do that, you should be in good shape.

Is this is the only way to go about it? Hardly. But it's a start, and signals a wonderful shift in publishing- connecting author to reader more directly and I, for one, couldn't be happier about it.

Take a look at his websites and read some of the work he has written. It’s one of the main reasons I check my blog website as often as I do. Fantastic work. On his one website he has more information about Kickstarter. Thank you again Dean for being my first ever guest post. You are welcome on my blog any time. For the public, find him, follow him and support him!

Nearing an end

As always, well, not so much as always, but I am getting close to finishing The Selected. It is going to be a much shorter book, probably just over 200 pages typed up. I know, I know, clearly I have not rambled enough. I just feel like this book doesn’t need to be that long. I may add more, but I won’t be typing this book up till next year.

With nearing the end with this book I am thinking of the sequel. I know, bad, terrible, etc. I like these characters, and know that this book cannot be it. I want to do more with them, if I can do it. If not, the book is just fine on it’s own.

Also, I am back to work, so my writing amount has decreased. It is to be expected with the first few weeks because my body needs to adjust to working. It’s tough. I am exhausted every day I come home and am in pain. Soon, I plan to write to distract me and to prolong when I go to sleep.

Some people say finishing a novel is easy. I find it a little bit of both: easy and hard. It’s easy because I know where I want to take it; hard because I don’t like letting go of a book. You get attached to the characters. It’s weird because in real life, I don’t get clingy, just with my writing. The only difference between this book and any other one is that I probably won’t take a break between writing this one and the next one. I don’t know how many books will follow this one, but I doubt I will really take much of a break between writing them. Only time may be to type up another novel…which I should be kind of doing now. Ultimate procrastination.

Oh! This is what happens when you get writers block and want to procrastinate:

 

Not that great, but it works for me. It shows the basis of where the novel takes place in 2065. I am not good with graphics, but the logo works for me. It’s supposed to be a patch worn on a uniform. Don’t criticize me for my lack of skill to create this.

Time to go back to writing it. I am thinking I have about 10-20 pages left, depending how fast I want this to happen. Knowing myself, the action parts will happen fast. I hate too much filler. I admit, I sound like a broken writer. All right, enough rambling. Must write, then bed.

Writing a Sequel/Trilogy/Series

Seeing as the last post about writers attacking writers, this was the main reason people got attacked. For a recap, here are two of the responses that people have given:

• “If you try to sell the first of a trilogy, and you are not an experienced writer, I can practically guarantee you will do a poorer job than if put as much work into a truly stand alone book. Why? Because for one thing, you'll be holding back for books two and three. Second, you'll leave dangling plots to bootstrap your second book -- bad idea.”
• “Forget sequels until you are published. Thinking of sequels will corrupt your writing, if you start leaving loose ends to carry into a sequel. Publishers balk at any mention of series or sequels by unpublished writers. They want to see writers with more than one idea, not ones trying to capitalize on the same characters and setting. And if you leave little coupling points in your story, they WILL notice. It makes your story look ragged.”

There were other responses, but these two were ones that got attacked for being rude. Now, my take on this.

You want to write more than one book that relates to a novel then go right ahead. What is the harm? Why should we as writers hinder other writers from doing this? Most of us cannot even begin to think of getting published yet because novels need to be written and edited first.

I, as a writer, have written a sequel to a novel and plan to write a 4-novel YA series. Is it set in stone? No, because I am trying to finish the first novel and get a feel for that. The first novel must be great because it has to set the scene for the rest of the novels, and it has to be good enough that if the rest of the series is not that great it can be a stand-alone novel.

Writing a novel is hard enough, why be assholes and bitches and try to stop people from writing? I want more people to write novels. It is a fantastic feelings and something to be proud about. I am proud of writing a novel. I am proud after every novel I have completed. So, in order to see what I could find about writing a second book or series I found a lot of mixed reviews. A lot of people say that this will not get you published.

Here is one comment that is confusing that I found:

• Now don't get me wrong. If your primary writing goal is to have fun: more power to you! Write a fifteen book interconnected series and don't let anyone tell you your front lawn swallowed a neighbourhood dog. If, however, your goal is to be published, writing a sequel to an unpublished, self-published, or under-published book is probably not your best strategy. Placing a book these days is really really hard. Placing a sequel to an un/self/under-published novel is virtually impossible, no matter how good it is.Unless, of course, the sequel can stand on its own. And I don't mean squint your eyes, fudge some plotlines, and nudge nudge sure thing it can stand alone. I mean it can completely and utterly stand alone and you can credibly pitch it as the first book in a possible series. In that case, well, just pitch it as the first book in a possible series and don't mention the one in the drawer.

Going back to my “publishable” rant. I hate writers that go: “I am writing a novel to get published and that be my job”.

Hold up, wait a second. First of all, writing should be something you want to do for yourself. You want to write a series and spend all this time in that world, it has to be more for you than for anyone else. You are going to build those attachments and have the same feelings as your characters. Second, it is so hard to get published nowadays you may end up self-publishing at first, or in general. Lastly, thinking that a series will be the only way to get you published you are wrong. Publishers do like a series, more money if it is good, but you must write it first.

I do have faith that people can do it, I just don’t appreciate when people think novel-writing is just a way to earn a living and then attack others. Write for yourself. If you have such a great idea that can lead to a sequel or more novels, go for it. Don’t get self-conscious when people tell you not to. And don’t think: “Wow! This will so get me published.” Instead think, “I have to write another novel because I love these characters and want them to go through this.”

Okay, okay. I am done ranting. To some this up: Write whatever you want as long as you put yourself as the main reason for writing. This is for your enjoyment and should be something you like to do. Writing is not easy, other writers can be down-right nasty and publishing is well, tough. Never give up hope that your novels are/will be great.