Writers blog 160215
My worst fears have been realized...
I finished NO MORE HEROES yesterday. A two year journey had come to an end. And for two days I have not known what to do with myself. You see I have neglected The Hapless Writer of late because I could feel the end being close, the fingers itching to type the words The End causing typo's and perspiration and sleepless nights.But it is done and the three publishers and one agent asking to see the work now have it sitting on their desks.
And yes I feel good. Clever even.
<strong>The Platform</strong>
I have also been trying to get my web site up and running and there is a load of work to make it look professional when you haven’t paid a professional to do it. I ran a pub once where we employed a company to sell our pub and the website cost £1500 pounds. This was a website you could only find if you knew the name of the pub and the obscure village it resided and we had no control over the damn site unless we paid out a truck load of money. So I’m doing my website myself courtesy of <a href="http://www.creativefuture.org.uk" target="_blank">Creative Future</a> and it is starting to take shape. I am using Wix, but there are a load of other sites available. I find it easy to use and its’ free if you want, but if you choose to buy a domain it’s not like you’re going to have to do without a good square meal once a week. It is cheap.
So now I have a novel, edited, and a blog that not many people read, but that’s okay. Early days. A pretty healthy twitter account and a facebook page I choose to ignore.
I think that’s what is called a writers platform. Now it is just a matter of getting them all to talk to each other and they will self promote and hopefully help me sell books.
I go live with my web page on Thursday the 19 of February, so go on and tell me what you think. Send me a message. Like me on facebook and retweet. Go crazy, eh?
I know I’ve talked about formatting and stuff but I’ve decided to pay for it. Having the novel look perfect is so important and I’ve found someone who likes my work and is willing to invest to see me get my story out on the net. I’m using a company called <a href="http://www.streetlightgraphics.com" target="_blank">Streetlight Graphics</a>. Cover, a bit like the Sin City graphics, formatting for e-book and hard copy and it’s costing $385 which, for the worry it saves me, is a good spend. I’m only mentioning names because it gives you a place to start. There are loads of companies selling this product, and I make no money mentioning them. Serious. If I have a problem with them trust me I’ll be straight back here telling you. But do spend some money on editing, formatting and cover because there are too many cheap products out there and you don't want people not buying your work becuase of design. Let it be because your writing is crap, eh?
Stay hapless