Good morning, Readers!
It's been a while since I posted this picture, and I still love it. Found on https://www.jooomshaper.com/
The only reason I'm at work today is because that is where the food is.
I'm very tired, and I have no right to be this tired. I haven't done anything all that tiring of late. Still, I'm exhausted. I mean, I didn't sleep all that well last night, and was woken a couple of hours before my alarm. Oh well, that is life, I suppose.
Anyway, I've made a decision about things that have been on my mind for a while. It's already begun, really, but I thought I might share it all with you both to see what you think and to arrange my thoughts on the matter. Before anyone panics, no, I am absolutely not quitting writing. That's such an integral part of my being I don't think I could ever give it up.
What I am doing, however, is getting out of the publishing business. Self-publishing specifically. I can't do it any more. I just can't. I don't have the time to be able to hunt down the opportunities as you must when you self-publish. I don't have time to chase after reviews, or to hit up all the local bookshops to ask if they'll take my books, or to hunt down other opportunities. With everything else going on, and with all that I want to devote my time to, I simply don't have the time, or the energy.
When I first started writing and self-publishing, I thought I'd be able to throw my everything at it. Turns out, I am not especially good at being a publicist and marketer for myself. I don't have the funds to pay editors their worth, and the same goes for cover designers and interior formatters. I do not have the capacity to act as my own publisher.
To that end, I'll be looking to find a home for my entire back list so I no longer have to worry about keeping stock and distributing them, having to find the time in my schedule to fulfill orders and so forth. I won't have to fuss over format or covers or editing anymore. I'll be free to write and pursue other interests without the stress of everything else about publishing that have to occupy my mind.
Renaissance Press has already acquired Sky Road Walker, and it's my hope that they'll accept the rest in due course.
I intend to spend the space and time I'll get back to work on the art side of my interests. I have plans to work on a number of things in the art realm, and have already taken steps to get there. Yesterday, for example, I ordered some white and black polymer oven-bake clay, some clay-shaping tools and some bake and bond. I plan on a series of sculptures, and have ideas for paintings and drawings, as well as chainmaille items and a few pieces in leather that I intend to get to. First on my plate, however, is the sculpture.
The clay will not arrive until near the middle of December, so it'll be a Christmas present to myself, and in the meantime, I will be planning a new website for the art side of my stuff. That will be going live as soon as I can get my portfolio in order. Perhaps it'll require an entirely new website.
One thing for certain, is that it will require learning a whole new skill set (selling art, creating prints or casts etc would all be relatively new to me, and I will have a little bit of research to do), and a few new display items for my works when I head out to conventions.
I'm quite excited by this new thing I want to try my hand at, and I'm eager to share with you. 2020 will be, I think, the year I settle it all in, build up my portfolio and stock, and then launch my art thing properly in 2021. The problem will be reigning in my impatience and launching everything too soon. Doing that before its ready will likely not help me much at all.
Right, I've waffled on enough. I'm off to learn French a bit and then write.
Ciao!
I'm very tired, and I have no right to be this tired. I haven't done anything all that tiring of late. Still, I'm exhausted. I mean, I didn't sleep all that well last night, and was woken a couple of hours before my alarm. Oh well, that is life, I suppose.
Anyway, I've made a decision about things that have been on my mind for a while. It's already begun, really, but I thought I might share it all with you both to see what you think and to arrange my thoughts on the matter. Before anyone panics, no, I am absolutely not quitting writing. That's such an integral part of my being I don't think I could ever give it up.
What I am doing, however, is getting out of the publishing business. Self-publishing specifically. I can't do it any more. I just can't. I don't have the time to be able to hunt down the opportunities as you must when you self-publish. I don't have time to chase after reviews, or to hit up all the local bookshops to ask if they'll take my books, or to hunt down other opportunities. With everything else going on, and with all that I want to devote my time to, I simply don't have the time, or the energy.
When I first started writing and self-publishing, I thought I'd be able to throw my everything at it. Turns out, I am not especially good at being a publicist and marketer for myself. I don't have the funds to pay editors their worth, and the same goes for cover designers and interior formatters. I do not have the capacity to act as my own publisher.
To that end, I'll be looking to find a home for my entire back list so I no longer have to worry about keeping stock and distributing them, having to find the time in my schedule to fulfill orders and so forth. I won't have to fuss over format or covers or editing anymore. I'll be free to write and pursue other interests without the stress of everything else about publishing that have to occupy my mind.
Renaissance Press has already acquired Sky Road Walker, and it's my hope that they'll accept the rest in due course.
I intend to spend the space and time I'll get back to work on the art side of my interests. I have plans to work on a number of things in the art realm, and have already taken steps to get there. Yesterday, for example, I ordered some white and black polymer oven-bake clay, some clay-shaping tools and some bake and bond. I plan on a series of sculptures, and have ideas for paintings and drawings, as well as chainmaille items and a few pieces in leather that I intend to get to. First on my plate, however, is the sculpture.
The clay will not arrive until near the middle of December, so it'll be a Christmas present to myself, and in the meantime, I will be planning a new website for the art side of my stuff. That will be going live as soon as I can get my portfolio in order. Perhaps it'll require an entirely new website.
One thing for certain, is that it will require learning a whole new skill set (selling art, creating prints or casts etc would all be relatively new to me, and I will have a little bit of research to do), and a few new display items for my works when I head out to conventions.
I'm quite excited by this new thing I want to try my hand at, and I'm eager to share with you. 2020 will be, I think, the year I settle it all in, build up my portfolio and stock, and then launch my art thing properly in 2021. The problem will be reigning in my impatience and launching everything too soon. Doing that before its ready will likely not help me much at all.
Right, I've waffled on enough. I'm off to learn French a bit and then write.
Ciao!
RSS Feed