Paul Whybrow
Full Member
As a new year heaves into sight, how are you going to tackle your writing in the next twelve months?
I'm happy with what I accomplished in 2018, completing the fifth novel in my Cornish Detective series, then editing it and the preceding stories into a state fit to query with. I also tidied twenty novellas and short stories written in 2013-2016.
Strangely, I feel like I'm where I thought I'd be when I looked forward in the summer of 2014. I'd been writing for a year, and at that point had some experience of self-publishing and making submissions to literary agents.
Barring unexpected good fortune with querying, I anticipated several years of hard grind. I wanted to improve my writing skills, acquire a better understanding of how the book world works and learn how to promote myself.
One tactic to aid success, that I took to heart, after seeing it recommended by writing gurus, was to write a series of books featuring the same characters. I already had plans to do so, for I like reading crime series and getting involved with the story arcs of the protagonists created by authors such as James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, John Connolly and Dennis Lehane. It makes sense then, that the reading public also favour series by unknown authors over standalone novels. They want to get to know that fictional world, and by extension, the author themselves.
I'd always intended to build up a supply of completed work, so that I could time the novels' publication to best effect. I wanted to avoid a situation where, say, if the first book took off commercially, it would put me under pressure to write a sequel. This has happened to several debut writers, who cursed themselves for not having any backup. Thus, the difficult second novel phenomenon is born.
For me, 2019 will be a year of self-promotion. I'm not entirely happy about this New Year's resolution, but it's how the commercial world works these days—thanks to the internet everyone sees it as their right to pry into the lives of anyone, especially those putting themselves out there with an entertainment of some sort...it takes a while for a writer to appreciate that they're a part of show business.
I'll resurrect my blog soon, seeing if I can rescue the posts that mysteriously disappeared off my Paul Pens WordPress site. I may even run two blogs: one on the creative process, the other about my Cornish Detective, murder, forensics and places where my fictional crimes take place.
I'm going to be entering a world where bloggers back one another's efforts, doing stuff like guest posts and book reviews. 'Friends,' followers and contacts on Facebook business pages, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter will become part of my marketing campaign. I don't know what I'm doing, but apart from an innate ability to be able to tell a story, I never have known what was what. I've just plugged away, until things worked.
I miss the buzz of creative writing, but there's little point in writing stories that no one reads, so I'll be blowing my own trumpet for the foreseeable future.
I'm going to try to enjoy it!
What's your master plan for 2019?
I'm happy with what I accomplished in 2018, completing the fifth novel in my Cornish Detective series, then editing it and the preceding stories into a state fit to query with. I also tidied twenty novellas and short stories written in 2013-2016.
Strangely, I feel like I'm where I thought I'd be when I looked forward in the summer of 2014. I'd been writing for a year, and at that point had some experience of self-publishing and making submissions to literary agents.
Barring unexpected good fortune with querying, I anticipated several years of hard grind. I wanted to improve my writing skills, acquire a better understanding of how the book world works and learn how to promote myself.
One tactic to aid success, that I took to heart, after seeing it recommended by writing gurus, was to write a series of books featuring the same characters. I already had plans to do so, for I like reading crime series and getting involved with the story arcs of the protagonists created by authors such as James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, John Connolly and Dennis Lehane. It makes sense then, that the reading public also favour series by unknown authors over standalone novels. They want to get to know that fictional world, and by extension, the author themselves.
I'd always intended to build up a supply of completed work, so that I could time the novels' publication to best effect. I wanted to avoid a situation where, say, if the first book took off commercially, it would put me under pressure to write a sequel. This has happened to several debut writers, who cursed themselves for not having any backup. Thus, the difficult second novel phenomenon is born.
For me, 2019 will be a year of self-promotion. I'm not entirely happy about this New Year's resolution, but it's how the commercial world works these days—thanks to the internet everyone sees it as their right to pry into the lives of anyone, especially those putting themselves out there with an entertainment of some sort...it takes a while for a writer to appreciate that they're a part of show business.
I'll resurrect my blog soon, seeing if I can rescue the posts that mysteriously disappeared off my Paul Pens WordPress site. I may even run two blogs: one on the creative process, the other about my Cornish Detective, murder, forensics and places where my fictional crimes take place.
I'm going to be entering a world where bloggers back one another's efforts, doing stuff like guest posts and book reviews. 'Friends,' followers and contacts on Facebook business pages, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter will become part of my marketing campaign. I don't know what I'm doing, but apart from an innate ability to be able to tell a story, I never have known what was what. I've just plugged away, until things worked.
I miss the buzz of creative writing, but there's little point in writing stories that no one reads, so I'll be blowing my own trumpet for the foreseeable future.
I'm going to try to enjoy it!
What's your master plan for 2019?
