Changes Are A-Coming

Yep. I can kinda feel it looming, that giant Godzilla-monster of change. It's a fairly major change that will, I'm afraid, mean the end of An Author's Journey. Don't fear (or perhaps fear, depending on how you feel about my posts), I'll still have a blog. It will still be found at smcarriere.com.

It just won't be this blog here. It'll be part of a slightly larger site - a site with a forum and a calendar and - get this - an online store. For me to sell stuff in. Eventually.

There's so much work still to be done, and the change is going to be substantial enough that I'm worried about it. However it's a change that must, I'm afraid, happen if I'm going to get anywhere towards my goal. Blogging and writing alone just isn't enough.

Of course, all of this is going to need more marketing. I'm not sure how to pull that off yet.

We'll just have to see. Right now I'm chewing my nails with fret as I get all the stuff together. Hopefully it will all pay off.

I'm off to try and write something today.

Walkist

One who participates in a walking match.

- William Craigie's Dictionary of American English, 1940

As soon as the door is once opened to such abominations. . . a whole host of similar terms should rush in and try to make a lodgement. Hence no sooner had men's ears become somewhat accustomed to hear a pedestrian called a walkist, than the man whose rifle brought down the largest amount of game became known as a famous shootist.

- M. Schele de Vere's Americanisms: The English of the New World, 1872

Doing What I Can

Following on from yesterday's post, I'm still at a loss for what else to do. I'm terrible at the whole marketing thing. I'm not comfortable with screaming, 'LOOK AT MY BOOK. BUY IT. IT'S GRAND.'

Perhaps the book is spectacular.

Perhaps it's utter crap.

But that's for the reader to decide. One of my pet peeves is to always be blasted by people telling you that their product is the best thing out there.

Apparently, that's what you have to do in marketing, and I despise it. A lot.

My dream is that my writing will speak for itself, and people will willingly talk about it and recommend it to others.

And I won't have to be a pushy salesperson.

Still, no one is talking about it, or recommending it (as near as I can tell)... and they're not doing it because I cannot market effectively.

It's so annoying.

The thing is, I've researched marketing. I read, and read, and read on the subject. None of it sinks in. I remember facts about pre-history I've learned years and years ago, but nothing about the pamphlet on marketing I read yesterday.

ARGH!

I'm frustrated. Not at you, readers. You're not the problem. I am.

I'm doing what I can, and it's not enough.

Le sigh.

Right, on with writing. Have a good Tuesday everyone!

Outherod

To excel or exceed in bombast, magniloquence, or violence. From the character of Herod who, in the old miracle plays, was always represented as arrogant.

- Edward Lloyd's Encyclopaedic Dictionary, 1895

Mild Panic Attack

Don't stress out. I'm alright. It was just a mild panic attack.

It happened yesterday, when the enormity of everything sort of just hit all at once... and then I stubbed my toe rather badly. It was the sharp pain of the door edge on my big toe that triggered the attack. Yes, my toe hurt. But it was all the other stuff flying around my head that caused a mild case of hyperventilation and then lots and lots of tears.

In short, I'm a bit overwhelmed.

There is so much I don't know about this business of being published, most especially the marketing part, and the more I find out, the more I realise I don't know. Then I read articles about reader backlash against authors on forum threads and the like, and I wonder if I'll ever actually get read at all. I mean, if your audience hates you, what are you supposed to do?

Will I be one of the hundreds, probably thousands, slaving away in obscurity for the rest of my life?

What's so important to me about being published anyway? I've thought long and hard about this, and am yet to come up with a satisfactory answer. The best I've managed is "because." What the hell kind of reason is that?

I love to write fiction. I want to make a living writing fiction.

It seems, however, the odds, and rejection letters, are stacked against me.

Still, I have absolutely no choice but to soldier on. "Because" isn't a very compelling reason for anything, yet that "because" is so damned powerful, it keeps pushing me on.

So today, I'm going to do more research on marketing. I despise self-marketing. Have I mentioned that?

Wish me luck!

And today's Forgotten English is:

Turn the Peats

A north country phrase equivalent to "change the subject." The allusion is to the square blocks of dried peat which are used for fuel and which, when they become red-hot underneath, are turned to allow the burning side to give out its warmth and glow.

- Basil Hargrave's Origins and Meanings of Popular Phrases, 1925

Treading Water

Ever get that feeling like you're working like hell and getting absolutely nowhere?

I'm there right now.

I'm working like a maniac, but I seem to be going nowhere. Of course, in actual fact it isn't quite true. The Kindle Edition of The Dying God & Other Stories was updated yesterday, and is in the process of "publishing." I'll let you know when it's "live." As of this writing, it isn't.

The Lebrary.com edition is still up in the air. The Lebrary.com techies are trying to upload the updated version on their end. Hopefully it'll be up today sometime.

I'm still waiting for pay day (tomorrow), so I can order my 2nd proof of the paperback edition of The Dying God & Other Stories. That done, however, I'll be relatively in the clear... assuming I caught all the errors the first time around (and fixed them correctly).

Speaking of the paperback edition, $10.95 will be the fixed price. One person said it was reasonable, and that's enough for me!

Today, since I'm doing a whole lot of waiting about, I'll be researching press releases. Things I need to know include:

What they are.

How to write one.

What to include with one.

Who to send it to.

In short, absolutely everything. I'm such a noob at this self-publishing stuff.

Hello steep learning curve!

Before I move onto today's Forgotten English, I shall leave you with one of my favourite Thomas Bergersen pieces and a quick plug for his new album, Illusions, which is available on iTunes right now. Click HERE to buy it. You won't be sorry. That man is a musical genius (no, we don't know each other at all. I actually genuinely think he's a musical genius). Don't believe me? Play the music below. This song is on the album, I believe.

Now, today's Forgotten English is:

Astrologian

One who professes to foretell events by the aspects and situation of the stars. Formerly one who understood the motions of the planets without predicting.

- Rev. John Boag's Imperial Lexicon of the English Language, c. 1850