Monday, April 2, 2007

Tantalizing Titles

I decided that maybe I'd better define the title of this blog, but before I start let me say, coming up with titles is never easy for me. After all, I am the same guy who dubbed his second novel UnLuckLess, Yeah I know. Nobody has ever liked that but me. Somewhere down the road I'll address why I chose that and discuss titles some more, but right now I'll get back to the title of this blog.

One Word- Every story has to begin with a single word and trust me sometimes coming up with that launching pad is the hardest part. The first word, the first sentence is the jumping off point. Sometimes all I need is start and I can write for hours, okay maybe more like minutes, before I get stumped again. At which point I ca stare at that blinking cursor forever and write nothing. Then the right word will launch me on my way again.

One Rung- Ascending to the ivory tower of the publishing world is no easy task. I'll be the first to admit I grabbed a hold of the ladder and started climbing way too early in the process. I had no idea where I was going and even less idea what to do once I got there. Needless to say I got humbled rather quickly. But after plummeting back to the ground, I picked myself up, began to learn things, proper formatting, better ways to structure the plot, character development. Now days I feel fairly confident in my writing, not that I don't still learn and get better, but at this point my major focus is on the business side. Query letters, learning how to market once I do sell, contracts, that sort of thing. I want to have reasonable expectations when I do finally get closer to the top. But one thing I have already learned. Selling a novel is not the top rung. Perhaps it's not even the hardest platform to reach. Selling a second or third novel is said to be even harder if the first novel did not sell well. And with today's climate most, if not all, of the marketing for a novel falls to the author. So the rungs just keep stretching upward and I'll just keep climbing.

One day- Well, this is my way of saying I'm too stubborn to quit. One day I will get published and on that day I'll star the process all over again, with the next book.

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