I subscribe to the blog, Live, Write, Thrive by C.S. Lankin.  It is an excellent blog and would recommend it highly (www.livewritethrive.com).  She posts several times a week and is very open to guest posts.  The topics range from inspirational to craft to grammar.  On July 24th there was a post called ‘Redefining Success in order to Stay Sane.’  The topic is so important to Lankin that she encouraged readers to re-post.

I would like to share some of the material from the post along with my own comments.  First, the desire for success can wear you down (success defined as selling a lot of books).  Defining success only in terms of book sales is limiting.  Writers suffer disappointment, frustration and despair over sales numbers.  The truth is no one has an idea of what sells books.  That’s the simple truth.   If the number of books sold is your measure of success prepare for a rough pot hole filled road.

Lankin offers the following “truths” which she is also working to embrace:

Success is not defined by numbers or money earned.  Writers need to believe in themselves and their work.  You need to believe that what you write is significant and important.

You are not writing to please the masses.  There are some writers who write in a specific genre to attract the masses.  Mystery writing tends to fall into that category; they are often serial books and have the same protagonist in every book.  There is mass appeal to mystery books, it all started with Sherlock Holmes and I admit, growing up I too was a Holmes addict.  For most of us we don’t appeal to the broad commercial market.  My understanding of “commercial fiction” is fiction written with the sole purpose of huge sales.  For example, paranormal especially vampires is now all the rage.  Writers need to know who their audience is and write with passion and sincerity.

Don’t validate yourself based on others’ opinions of you or your writing.  A local bookstore owner had someone read my book for their opinion.  The bookstore owner went from being enthusiastic about scheduling an author presentation/signing to not being willing to schedule an event for me.  The mystery reader didn’t care for my book and thought there were “errors” in it.  I never did find out what that meant.  However, I submitted my book to the annual Milwaukee Irish Fest; they loved my book, offered to sell it for me and offered me two presentations during the four day event in August.  It happens.

Find a few really supportive writer friends to be on the journey with you.  In my case, I have one writer friend on the journey with me.  I asked him to content edit my first novel and the made several stunning recommendations which added depth to my story.  In exchange, I’ve read his behemoth 400 page manuscript and offered my suggestions on plot and especially the ending.  We trust each other and will never be critical.  We respect each other’s talent.  I’m lucky.

Know that traditional publishing is undergoing radical changes.  I had a contract with a traditional publisher and spent 2 ½ years revising manuscript and missing two publication dates.  I terminated the contract in disappointment and anger which lead me to independent publishing.  There are still a few vanity publishers that don’t have standards for either the writing or the quality of the hardcopy book, but they are dinosaurs.  Create Space and Lulu have revolutionized independent publishing.  I learned that independent publishing gives the artist complete control and has shaken the traditional publishing world – as it should.

The key is to NOT accept the worldly definition of success as book sales or money earned.  Take the time to define success for yourself, write the best damn novel you can and believe that you will connect with your readers.  “If you write it, they will find you.” 

As a reader I joined GOODREADS several years ago but admit that I was an infrequent user.  In researching effective marketing tools for independent authors, GOODREADS, was ranked as a MUST DO.  It is the single largest group of readers on line.

In early January this year I began a twofold GOODREADS campaign to market MURPHY’S TROUBLES.  Their service is called Goodreads Author Program and offers options on an ad campaign, a blog, and book giveaway program.  I chose the ad program and book giveaway.

For the ad program a tutorial is provided and you design your own ad.  Their staff review the ad and make recommendations to attract readers.  The ad is viewed but the objective is for people to click on the ad to read more about the book and be given choices on how to buy your book.

In six months 316,120 independent people viewed my ad.  Wow! What a huge number.  However, only 60 of those have clicked the ad.  Goodreads says that an author can expect a click rate of 0.05%, so for every 100,000 views 50 will click the ad.  My click rate is a disappointing 0.02%.  I don’t have a clue why my click rate is less than half the “normal” rate.  Goodreads does review the ad and make suggestions if it isn’t working out and so far I’ve not been contacted with a suggestion to change my ad or target audience.

My book has received seven ratings, three of which are 5 out of 5 stars.  My overall rating is 4.3 – respectable I thought.

My book has received only two reviews with a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

I wanted to draw more attention to the book and have it reviewed by GOODREADS readers.  I offered 5 books to give away.  I don’t have any reason for selecting only five – maybe it’s just being cheap.  I had 501 people request the free book.  GOODREADS chooses the “winners”, I don’t know how.  The rules are strict.  Once I learned who the winners were I’m only given a name and mailing address.  I couldn’t contact the winner or request a review – it was a pure giveaway.

As it turns out, one of my reviewers was a winner of the giveaway, so that worked well and the reviewer gave the book a 4.3 out of 5 stars.

To date, 215 people have put my book on their “to read” list.  I think that’s important for two reasons.  First, if the book is on their list someday they intend to actually buy the book.  Also, their friends will see my book on their list and maybe that will be enough to pique their interest to either buy the book or add it to their “to read” list.

Being a novice, I didn’t have any expectations for my  GOODREADS campaign to its all good to me.  I allocated $100 to spend on the campaign and it will run until the money runs out.  At this rate my campaign will last another 14 months.  Maybe after a year I’ll seek GOODREADS help in sprucing up my ad.

Anyone out there a member of GOODREADS?  Anyone out there seen my ad on GOODREADS?  Anyone out there advertised or had a giveaway campaign on GOODREADS?   

I have an eighteen month old granddaughter, Vivian Grace, who lives with her parents in Omaha, Nebraska.  Distance dictates that we see her, in the flesh, about every six months.  We supplement these visits with an hour Skype visit every two weeks.

Last week we spent four days in Omaha visiting with parents and Vivy.  Our daughter-in-law, Sandy, had told us how she has taught Vivy sign language to help her communicate.  A friend of the parents taught their children sign language and claimed it made a significant difference in their language, reading and thinking skills.

Of course, I was skeptical.  When we arrived Vivy was in a playful mood and like any good grandparents we joined her on the floor to play.  Soon she was making these wild motions.  Her Mom calmly told us she was signing that she wanted water.  I gave Vivy a sippy cup; she smiled and took a long drink.  I was dumbfounded.  An eighteen month old was able to tell me what she wanted without verbal language.  She understood thirst, water and how to ask for the water.

Over the next few days the challenge was to get white bearded grandpa to complete a crash course in sign language, taught by my eighteen month old granddaughter.  Vivy can sign for:  eat, milk, tired, thank you, please, cookie, all done and book.  These eight words accomplish a lot in the life of a toddler.

One morning Vivy woke very early because she was busy cutting her molar teeth.  Her Mom was exhausted from being up tending to Vivy during the night.  I told Sandy she should return to bed and I would feed and care for Vivy.  I was able to “talk” with Vivy through sign language and understood what she wanted.  She had a breakfast of fruit and oatmeal, milk, and water.  She would ask for more cereal if hungry and let me know when she was finished.

Vivy’s life and mine have been enriched by the magic of sign language. 

I have attended the Tuesday Morning Book Talk, led by Dr. Emily Auerbach for years.  So many years I’m not sure how many but I’m guessing more than ten years.  When I launched my book I sent her a copy and asked if she would consider including it as a book for our Tuesday Moring Book Talk.  Months went by and I never received a response.  I didn’t understand because we’ve communicated by e-mail many times.  I finally mustered the courage to ask her about it after one of our Tuesday morning sessions.  I learned that the university e-mail system had changed and she was having a problem that her e-mails were getting filtered and deleted as scam.

At our last two classes in April she invited our group members to submit books to read in our fall 2014 group.  I didn’t say anything in class because I felt I had already been bold to suggest my own book.  She did send me an e-mail to ask if Marshall Cook would be willing to lead the discussion if she included my book.  Of course, he agreed.

Several weeks ago I received an e-mail from Marshall telling me my book had been selected but no details on the date.  Then he sent me a follow-up e-mail telling me it would be discussed on October 28th.  I was both overwhelmed and exhilarated, Marshall even published the date and time in his e-zine Extra Innings and invited readers to attend.

I was confused that I never head directly from Emily.  Yesterday, I received the notice for the Fall 2014 Booktalks and there I am, listed on October 28th and 9:30 a.m.  I’ve never received the notice in the mail previously, so my guess is that is Emily’s very subtle message that she’s selected my book.

It is a great honor to have Emily read my book and decide it is worthy of discussion by our book club.  As an independent author/publisher it just doesn’t get any better. 

Here is some information to follow-up:

October 28, 2014 9:30 a.m.                                                Registration:  608-262-2451 or
Madison Public Library – 3rd Floor                    http://www.dcs.wisc.edu/classes/literature.htm     201 W. Mifflin St.
Madison, WI               
                                                                                                                                  





  

In a previous post I explained how I’ve used setting a weekly word goal to motivate myself and provide structure to THE BIG GOAL of completing the first draft of my second novel this year.  I’ve been humming right along and have found that most weeks I exceed my goal which gives me a wonderful warm, fuzzy feeling.  Most important it’s proven to be a fantastic tool to subdue Editor Man, that pesky super hero that insists on editing as I write.  I’ve found his kryptonite.

When I set my weekly goal I forget one very important fact.  Some weeks I have other activities that render writing next to impossible.  For example, later this month we’re driving to Omaha to spend a week with our son, his wife and our 18 month old granddaughter.  I intend to devote myself that week exclusively to family and will give writing a rest.  The result will be that week I miss my writing goal by a country mile.

This past week having that realization sent me into a panic.  I didn’t sleep for two nights trying to figure out how to squeeze in more writing time before the Omaha trip.  Then I realized I’ve made other commitments and I’ll lose another three days in writing.  For the month, I won’t be able to write for eight days (that’s a quarter of the month!).

So much for my astute planning; this week I bore down for serious writing.  As my Dad used to say, I was in a tizzy.  This week I cranked out over 6700 words, three times my goal and 65% of my goal for the entire month.  At the close of Saturday’s writing session I realized I would attain my word goal for the month – I could relax.

I found myself a slave to the goal I had created.  That isn’t healthy.  The loss of sleep and emotional trauma was too heavy of a price.  I did learn that with enough effort I can be very productive.  In fact, I may have given myself to small of a weekly word goal.

Goals are great but you can’t let them own you.  I’ve learned my lesson.    

A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend about a book that our community will read together.  Our library director is initiating a program called Sun Prairie Reads this year which kicks off in late March.  The book selected is a young adult fiction, Seedfolks, by Paul Fleischman which is a Newbery Medal winning novel.  I talked about the structure of the book, how the story built into a crescendo and how characters lives were woven together.  My friend looked at me and said:  "As a writer you read differently than I do.  I just liked the story."

His comment caused be to reflect on my reading life.  He was right, having completed the process of writing, editing and publishing a novel I do read differently that I did before that experience.  In the past I consumed Ray Bradbury novels, not for the science fiction, but the story.  I'll read any Wallace Stegner for his language and common life stories like going home after a lifetime away and learning about yourself.

When writers are asked for advice they often say that you need to read, deeply, exhaustively, in all genres.  In many ways this advice is self-evident.  I can't imagine a writer who doesn't also love to read.  I must confess that I don't read all genres.  I skip erotica, non-fiction, paranormal and dystopia just from personal preference, no judgment intended or implied.  I tendy to rely on my Tuesday Morning Book Club to introduce me to literature I might not choose for myself and that has proven very satisfactory.

This month I read my first Russell Banks, Continental Drift.  I don't know how I reached my age and be ignorant of Russell Banks.  Continental Drift was nominated for the Pulitzer and if I had voted it would have won.  I must admit that the point of view Banks uses initially confused me.  I felt like I was watching a movie about Robert Raymond Dubois and Vanise Dorsinvilles.  For perspective I contacted my friend and mentor Marshall Cook.  He suggested that the point of view was intentional because both characters often are just observers in their own life.  Eureka!

Reading Continental Drift taught me a lesson as a writer.  I'm working on my second novel and my worst problem, point of view, has reared its' ugly head in chapter one.  Reading Banks' book gave me a solution to my point of view problem.  So I agree with my friend that, as an author, I do read books from a wrtier's perspective, and that's just fine.

Since Murphy's Troubles was launched last November 18th I have been on a marketing roller coaster.  I was astonished at the local support I received.  Both our local coffee shop, Beans n Cream and the Sun Prairie Public Library agreed to host author book signing/reading events.  They also collaborated to design and print a poster advertising the events, I handled the distribution.  Our local newspaper, The Star, agreed to an interview and published an in-depth four column article announcing my book release. 

Yet, my presence in th internet world is almost non-existent.  I've had my website for several years and have been blogging once a week for a year.  I paid a consultant to review my website and made a lot of changes that resulted in about a 25% increase in hits.  It was worth the expense.

In January I took the time to develop a detailed marketing plan for myself.  Right away I learned about myself that my goal wasn't to sell books, my goal was to attract readers.  Really, the motivation to write is to have readers.  I have discovered there are numerous services to help independent writers/publishers but they all cost money.  Of course, the big wad was spent in bringing Murphy's Troubles into the world so there aren't a lot of resources to invest in marketing, which is a class catch 22.

I developed the strategy that the cost of any marketing dollars must be recovered through book sales.  Sounds like a rational policy.  Then I was talking with a consultant I trust and she said I could take that approach butr I had to realize I'm an unknown author and the effort to become known will cost money.  She was right and I knew it.

In my marketing plan my original goal was to devote at least five hours a week on direct marketing activities.  I also have the goal of finishing the first draft of my second novel this year.  In part, these goals were in conflict.  Part of my time devoted to finding readers for the first book while also devoting creative time for my second book.  I kept a calendar to record the hours I spent marketing and soon found myself a slave to that calendar.

By chance I found a blog, The 7 Worst Mistakes of the Indie Author and How to Fix Them by Joanna Penn March 4, 2012.  The seventh mistake is focusing everything into one book.  Her point is that yes, an author needs to market that first book but must remember that we're writers and not lose focus.  "Obsessing over marketing one book isn't as important as getting on with the next."

Eureka!  Now my marketing goal is to focus on one specific marketing activity a week and devote the majority of my time to writing my second novel.  It feels right.  I've found balance.  Thank you, Joanna Penn for blogging about your writing experience.    

I have subscribed to The Writer Magazine since 2001 and it has been published since 1887.  I’ve been fortunate to have two articles published in The Writer (May 2012 and September 2012).  The February 2014 issue has a story by Neil Evans, “For a living”.  One sentence in the article grabbed by attention:  “Writing is an act; being a writer is a state of mind, a lifestyle, a necessity.”  By his definition Evans claims he isn’t a writer but he does earn his income from writing, working as a web content editor.

In an age of e-mails, e-zines, blogs, tweets, and content writing we have stretched what has been traditionally meant to be a writer.  I enjoy writing a weekly blog and a monthly feature in the e-zine Extra Innings; however, my first love is the novel.   In reflecting on the direction I want to take in 2014 Evans’ definition of a writer is critical.

For years I dreamt of being a writer.  At first I thought that if I was paid for my writing, I would be a writer.  I achieved that goal in 2010 but still didn’t view myself as a writer.  Then I decided I would be a writer when I published my first novel.  I achieved that goal in November 2013.  Yet, something was missing; I continued to struggle with the notion that I am a writer.

The missing element is in Evans definition:  “. . . being a writer is a state of mind, a lifestyle, a necessity.” In 2014 I plan to give myself the freedom to explore being a writer with this definition in mind.  Recently, I helped a friend polish his musical comedy, tightening the story, giving color to characters and tying up loose ends in the last act.  His focus was the music, not the story.  He asked me one day how I came up with the changes I suggested.  My response, without thinking was:  “That’s what I do.”    

There is some debate on the meaning of the expression; “cast the die”, some say the origin is Julius Caesar.  I prefer the version deeply rooted in metallurgy when molten metal was poured into a mold or die that would form an object once the metal cooled.  In 2014 I’m casting the die to have the freedom to live a writer’s state of mind, a lifestyle and accept the necessity of writing in my life.   

It’s winter in Wisconsin.  It snows in the winter in Wisconsin.  For my first book signing this past Saturday at the Beans n Cream Coffeehouse, it snowed.  The snow began several hours before my 10 a.m. start time.  It was the type of snow that melts when it hits the road pavement and turns into a mush.  The mush makes driving tenuous.  My hopes for hoards of book purchasers with books in hand to sign melted like the new snow striking pavement.

The table at the coffee shop had a sign reading “Reserved for Rex Owens book signing”.  A stack of books sat on the table.  I added my book cover poster to attract potential book readers and took a seat.  My wife was armed with the camera to record the historic moments.  The first person through the door was my best friend, he picked up a book from my table, purchased it and his four shot cappuccino then joined me at the table.  Everyone that stopped by the table followed his lead that morning.  I was in author’s heaven.  On a Saturday morning I was hanging out at the coffee shop, drinking coffee, selling books, signing books and talking with my friends for two and a half hours.  What could be better?  I sold about 10 books and it was very satisfying.

It’s still winter in Wisconsin.  My “big” event was the book reading and signing at the Sun Prairie Public Library this past Monday evening.  The snow began about 3:00 p.m.   It snowed hard.  It was the kind of snow that when you turn on your ‘brights’ when driving you get a wall of white and realize it’s worse so you turn them off.  About 5:30 p.m. my phone began ringing, friends calling to tell me the snow was too much of a hazard and they wouldn’t be attending the reading.  I didn’t answer those calls; I let them go to voicemail.  I appreciated the calls but didn’t want to hear them.

By 6:20 p.m. only one person arrived for the reading.  I was determined not to cancel.  Then two more arrived.  At 6:30 the library staff insisted that I begin even with only three people in the room.  I started.  During my opening remarks people straggled into the room, one by one, until we had ten in all.  I wanted to have an informal conversation with readers, not just lecture and read.  We struck up a conversation, people contributed their experiences traveling in Ireland and after the reading we continued to talk.  My wife Lynette sold books at a table in the back of the room and we sold another 10 books.  I was elated.

For an author talking directly with readers is a very special experience.  We all write to be read.  Talking with readers completes the writing experience and provides another way for writers to enrich their writing.  I thoroughly enjoy the reading and signing events.  The events connect me with my community and make me whole as a writer.  I’m looking forward to a year of author events in 2014.

Next week is family week with son, daughter-in-law and one year old granddaughter visiting from Omaha.  The whole clan will be together for the first time in several years.  I’m going take a break for posting a blog and enjoy the warmth of my family.  For 2014 I offer a traditional Irish blessing:

May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been, the foresight to know where you’re going and the insight to know when you’re going too far.  

This Saturday, December 14th I have my first ever public book signing.  I’m nervous, anxious, and uncertain and my self-confidence is hiding somewhere.  I am very lucky that the owner-manager of our local coffee hangout, Jeff Gauger, from Beans n Cream Coffee House wants me to spend several hours Saturday morning signing books.  I am dumbfounded that he believes that I will be an “attraction”.  I’ve never been an “attraction” before and I am doubtful.  His bet is that the good local folks will want to with me well on finally publishing MURPHY’S TROUBLES, and take the time to buy a cup of coffee, maybe a danish or breakfast burrito.

Jeff even created a fantastic poster to advertise my upcoming appearance both at Beans n Cream and the Sun Prairie Library Monday night (December 16th) at 6:30 p.m.  I volunteered to take the posters around town and ask businesses to display them in a prominent place for several weeks.  It was the least I could do.

I wanted to use my “event” Monday night to support the Library so I’ll be donating half of the royalties from each book sale to the Library Foundation.  I didn’t want to advertise this because I was afraid that folks might see it as a gimmick to sell books.  It’s not.  It’s just my way of saying thanks to the Library Director, Tracy Herold, for her support.   There’s simply nothing more natural than a novelist supporting their local library in whatever way possible.

I have been working toward this time in my life for the past sixteen years.  I am ready, it’s the path I’ve chosen or maybe it’s chosen me, most days I’m not sure.  Wish me luck.