Coming Back to Life

I've been thinking a lot lately about what exactly I want this blog to be, along with doing a lot of related searching about what I want my life to look like.

Common sense and modern wisdom both support the idea of finding that one thing, that one niche, that one passion, and working the hell out of it. "You can't possibly be successful if you don't commit to one thing!" the collective voices cry.

The thing is, I'm not "just a writer," and I'll never be 100% focused on the pure act of converting individual words into stories, articles, and other forms of content. There's so much more going on that fills out the shape of my life, and it's hard to discuss myself and my thoughts without sharing some of it.

With that being said, here's what's new:

I have a new love in my life, and even though she isn't technically "alive," she certainly brings a light to my life! Meet Elena:

She's an Epiphone LP-100 Les Paul Electric Guitar in Heritage Cherryburst, and she's a great beginner's tool. Although I've been playing guitar on and off for about ten years now, this is my first electric, and I'm super thrilled to call her mine.

Also, I'm working on an awesome new project, and in the process, actually paying people to write for once! (Instead of the other way around). I'll discuss this in more detail soon, but if you want a sneak peek, head over to the writing submissions page for the site I'm putting together.

Of course, writing will always be a part of my life, and I'll continue to share my writerly thoughts here. For example, here's an article I recently wrote for Writers Weekly, a terrific publication and email newsletter provided by Angela Hoy and designed to help freelance writers and self-publishers succeed:

Leveraging Humor to Develop Your Freelance Writing

Loss and Life

A shining star was extinguished this year on January 1st.

I don't really want to go into details on such a public forum, but the loss has required many changes, and a delay in posting.

I am hoping to get back into writing more for this blog in the New Year, but for the time being, bear with me!

Interview with Brendan P. Frye on Community Fridays

Welcome to Community Fridays! During this weekly event, I interview authors, editors, publishers, and pretty much anyone else who I can get my hands on from the writing and publishing community. Hope you enjoy, and feel free to suggest new participants. Check out current and past interviews here. Only have a minute? Click here for interviews at a glance.

Today's guest is Brendan P. Frye, editor for the Canadian online and print magazine Comics and Gaming monthly.

You’re a writer, as well as an editor, for the magazine Comics and Gaming Monthly. Which did you start out as? How did you transition from one to the other?

I started writing when I was in university, where I did movie and album reviews for local newspapers. First came unpaid opportunities, which I used as a chance to expand on my writing skills. From these jobs I moved to an online publication, Lucid Forge. I worked as content editor there for about 3 years, and while I was there, I ensured everyone worked together, but also that the site had the best coverage of the best music and film events for the area. The transition between the two was not as complex as you may think; once I took control I had a solid team of writers that ensured the move was easy and painless. Really it just comes down to doing what you love to do, and keep doing it until people notice you.

I’ve thought about becoming an editor myself, so that I can toy with the pawns – I mean, writers. How is the skill set that you use for writing different than the one you use for editing a publication?

Looking Forward to the New Year: Writing in 2012

I have to say, I'm really excited looking towards the next year. I know, I know, it's really just an arbitrary date change, but like many people I find it useful at some point during the year to take stock, and this is as good a time as any.

A lot of changes have happened in 2011, both writing related and otherwise. They include a move, career exploration, and a huge shift in the ways that I've managed to leverage my freelance writing. Despite all of the changes, a lot of the year (like many years before) felt like a set-up for things to come in the future. I hope 2012 will be the year the wheels actually start turning.

There's mixed opinion out there as to whether it's better to share your goals or keep them to yourself (I probably mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating). Derek Sivers of TED talk fame says not to share; a host of others, among them The Change Blog and Goalmigo, have the opposite opinion. I've found both techniques to be equally useful (or useless, as the case may be), though certainly writing them down for personal use is better than leaving them to rattle around untethered in your head.

So I've decided to describe the coming year as a seer might, putting out ideas rather than hard-and-fast goals. Mmm, yes, the crystal ball is showing me something... I can see clearly now... There is another move in the near future. Writing, lots of writing. More fiction. More blogging. More connecting with writers and helping to showcase their work. More opportunities. And something else, it's not quite certain, but I'll be doing something next year that's unlike anything I've done to date.

Okay, so maybe the crystal ball was a bit of a bust. Anyway, the point is I'm excited to be going forward, and I hope that all of you are, too!

Interview with R. S. Guthrie on Community Fridays

Welcome to Community Fridays! During this weekly event, I interview authors, editors, publishers, and pretty much anyone else who I can get my hands on from the writing and publishing community. Hope you enjoy, and feel free to suggest new participants. Check out current and past interviews here. Only have a minute? Click here for interviews at a glance.

Today's guest is R. S. Guthrie, a writer exploring different publication types and an activist promoting the use of writing to make a difference.

Your embrace of the philosophies of both self-publishing and traditional publishing struck a chord with me. Many people are vehemently for one side or the other. Can you explain why you think some books should be self-published, and others traditionally published?

This is a great question! I think traditional publishing still carries with it a (somewhat deserved) badge of prestige, whereas self-publishing carries with it a bit of a stigma. Whether we all want to admit it or not, the sea of self-published books is wide, deep, and in spots, a bit smelly. It is like everything else in life: nothing comes without cost. The problems with going the traditional route, other than potential rejection after potential rejection, I see as primarily twofold:

1. The time to publication. In this market, unless you are well-known, you might as well be an indie. The uphill marketing battle is nearly the same (and requires nearly as much work on your part). That said, getting more books out there is pretty important. If you have to wait a year and a half for your book to be released, you could be falling behind.
2. You likely lose some, if not all, rights to your work. This means your publisher can demand changes, controls price and distribution, and takes a cut. You can't just sign up for a promotion or drop the price of your book for Christmas. Not unless you obtain the permission of your publisher.

If your work is good enough for the traditional route, it may be worth it to go through the time and heartache to have it published by a known publishing house. I certainly wouldn't go through all that for a no-name publisher. Both options mean a ton of marketing work for the unestablished author. I think more and more the self-publishing route is becoming the better option, but showcasing your needle in a nearly indefinite stack of needles is a huge challenge.

On your blog, you talk about the difficulty of finding good books based purely on ratings. What do you think is a better way for readers to discover good, new authors?