NaNoWriMo 2014 -- Write Books, Get Rich (1 Viewer)

[Freelove]

Just about November again, which means amateur (and professional) wordsmiths all over are fueling up on espresso, saying farewell to loved ones, forcing themselves to sit in chairs, and getting ready to peck out paragraphs -- all with the dim hope of ending up with something they don't feel completely embarrassed to refer to as a novel. Which will then be perfect for printing out and leaving on a shelf to collect dust.

(Cue Family Guy routine)

Anybody torturing themselves this year?

Thought I might give it a romp. Not really a big joiner, so I'm not doing any official nanowrimo.org stuff. But why not here?

Figured we could use this space to hi-five one another, and for accountability and progress-related enthusiasm/kvetching/lamenting.

My goal is to forge a couple less-than-award-winning efforts over the next month or so, and see if I can't use the inevitable profits to buy myself a small island nation. Will outline the creative and marketing plans of attack and give updates for those interested and/or skeptical.

We can also use this space to bounce ideas off one another, ask questions, and/or get feedback.

Who's down for getting your Hemingway, E.L. James, or J.K. Rowling on?

Or just watching me flame out?

 

[Freelove]

Latest Update 11/11/14 - 1:49 AM US Central

Total Words Written: ~15,000

Total Books Complete: 0

Book Sales: $0.00

Mood:

 

[identikit]

Time Passes Slowly

 

[TheIronSheik]

I have no idea what's going on here. Are we supposed to write books in November? No one ever told me this. May I be excused?

 

[Ignoramus]

I have no idea what's going on here. Are we supposed to write books in November? No one ever told me this. May I be excused?

pretty sure it's a new Clash of Clans attack guide.

 

[Freelove]

I have no idea what's going on here. Are we supposed to write books in November?

Yes.

Unless you hate America and don't want to be part of National Novel Writing Month.

 

[TheIronSheik]

I have no idea what's going on here. Are we supposed to write books in November?

Yes.

Unless you hate America and don't want to be part of National Novel Writing Month.

OK. So I'm safe.

 

[El Floppo]

I have no idea what's going on here. Are we supposed to write books in November? No one ever told me this. May I be excused?

it's like Movember, but your mustache writes stuff.

 

[MikeIke]

Mr. Ishida's Video Store

 

[NutterButter]

I don't understand what compels people to write a book just as a bucket list thing. Sure, if you're making a living off of it, but just to spend all that time writing a book no one is going to read.

 

[Ilov80s]

What have you got? I'm in for reading.

 

[bills025]

I would have loved this thread last year. Good Luck man!

 

[Dickies]

I have no idea what's going on here. Are we supposed to write books in November? No one ever told me this. May I be excused?

pretty sure it's a new Clash of Clans attack guide.

Sadly, I came in here to post this exact same thing

 

[Freelove]

I don't understand what compels people to write a book just as a bucket list thing. Sure, if you're making a living off of it, but just to spend all that time writing a book no one is going to read.

Did you miss the part about buying the island nation? I may not be Stephanie Twilight, but I'm handy with both a keyboard and a marketing plan.

Step one: Write a book.

Step two: Write another book.

Step three: Put 1,000 word teaser and link to buy second book in back of first book.

Step three: Put book one up on Amazon for $X.XX, and on iTunes for free.

Step four: Get Amazon to price match, so it can forever say, "Awesome Book - $X.XX, now FREE!"

Step five: Put links to authorial blog/list-building MailChimp email collection site in each book, so I never miss a chance to whore myself.

Step six: Promote the hell out of them with targeted ad campaigns like Bookbub and Freebooksy.

Step seven: Write or contract out more books and go back and link all of them to each other.

Step eight: Buy island nation.

Today's plan: Library/bookstore research in AM, skeleton plotting over lunch, first crack at prologue/chapter 1 this evening.

 

[Freelove]

I would have loved this thread last year. Good Luck man!

That's the spirit! Also, my wife tells me I need a hobby.

 

[Freelove]

Hoping Gas Money comes by and we can get our author on.

 

[NutterButter]

I don't understand what compels people to write a book just as a bucket list thing. Sure, if you're making a living off of it, but just to spend all that time writing a book no one is going to read.

Did you miss the part about buying the island nation? I may not be Stephanie Twilight, but I'm handy with both a keyboard and a marketing plan.

Step one: Write a book.

Step two: Write another book.

Step three: Put 1,000 word teaser and link to buy second book in back of first book.

Step three: Put book one up on Amazon for $X.XX, and on iTunes for free.

Step four: Get Amazon to price match, so it can forever say, "Awesome Book - $X.XX, now FREE!"

Step five: Put links to authorial blog/list-building MailChimp email collection site in each book, so I never miss a chance to whore myself.

Step six: Promote the hell out of them with targeted ad campaigns like Bookbub and Freebooksy.

Step seven: Write or contract out more books and go back and link all of them to each other.

Step eight: Buy island nation.

Today's plan: Library/bookstore research in AM, skeleton plotting over lunch, first crack at prologue/chapter 1 this evening.

Since no one is going to read the first book, you can definitely skip steps 2 and 3

 

[Freelove]

I don't understand what compels people to write a book just as a bucket list thing. Sure, if you're making a living off of it, but just to spend all that time writing a book no one is going to read.

Did you miss the part about buying the island nation? I may not be Stephanie Twilight, but I'm handy with both a keyboard and a marketing plan.

Step one: Write a book.

Step two: Write another book.

Step three: Put 1,000 word teaser and link to buy second book in back of first book.

Step three: Put book one up on Amazon for $X.XX, and on iTunes for free.

Step four: Get Amazon to price match, so it can forever say, "Awesome Book - $X.XX, now FREE!"

Step five: Put links to authorial blog/list-building MailChimp email collection site in each book, so I never miss a chance to whore myself.

Step six: Promote the hell out of them with targeted ad campaigns like Bookbub and Freebooksy.

Step seven: Write or contract out more books and go back and link all of them to each other.

Step eight: Buy island nation.

Today's plan: Library/bookstore research in AM, skeleton plotting over lunch, first crack at prologue/chapter 1 this evening.

Since no one is going to read the first book, you can definitely skip steps 2 and 3

Don't think you understand how the modern publishing world works, but good luck with the curmudgeon thing, I guess.

Thoughts on the start of the process to follow in next post.

 

[[icon]]

in case he is serious.

 

[Das Boot]

I don't understand what compels people to write a book just as a bucket list thing. Sure, if you're making a living off of it, but just to spend all that time writing a book no one is going to read.

Did you miss the part about buying the island nation? I may not be Stephanie Twilight, but I'm handy with both a keyboard and a marketing plan.

Step one: Write a book.

Step two: Write another book.

Step three: Put 1,000 word teaser and link to buy second book in back of first book.

Step three: Put book one up on Amazon for $X.XX, and on iTunes for free.

Step four: Get Amazon to price match, so it can forever say, "Awesome Book - $X.XX, now FREE!"

Step five: Put links to authorial blog/list-building MailChimp email collection site in each book, so I never miss a chance to whore myself.

Step six: Promote the hell out of them with targeted ad campaigns like Bookbub and Freebooksy.

Step seven: Write or contract out more books and go back and link all of them to each other.

Step eight: Buy island nation.

Today's plan: Library/bookstore research in AM, skeleton plotting over lunch, first crack at prologue/chapter 1 this evening.

Cool, I look forward to following this and wish you tons of luck.

Did you construct the above list from your own observations?

 

[mphtrilogy]

How many pages are 50,000 words?

Might give this a shot.

 

[Freelove]

Viable strategies for selling books in the modern world.

1. Write a great piece of literary fiction that speaks to the heart of the human condition.

Do not do this. They don't sell. They're harder to write, the critics are harsher, and there's little scope for building a brand. Decades after its release, the total number of people who have ever clamored for a sequel to Gravity's Rainbow: two. The people who clamored for a sequel to Twilight? Every female on the planet.

2. Westerns.

There is a cult following, but it's entirely made up of 80 year old men in Wyoming and Montana who think the Internet is the Devil's work. Not self-publishing friendly.

3. Sci-Fi.

You have to know science well enough to satisfy the nerd contingent. Not worth the trouble.

4. Mystery.

Too many demands and expectations to master the form overnight. Practically demands re-writing, re-re-writing, and re-re-re-writing as you stick in clues and red herrings and so forth. A demanding lot, and difficult to please unless you've spent a lifetime reading the things, which I haven't.

5. Romance & Erotica

HUGE market, and insanely lucrative, but best served with a female POV character who beats you over the head with feminine takes on sensation and emotion. If you can pull that off, you're a better woman than me. Can theoretically be done with a male protagonist, but men mostly just watch free porn instead.

6. Thrillers, Horror, and Fantasy!

This is totally the way to go. Especially with horror and fantasy, where you don't even really need to know history or how the real world works. As long as your story world is inherently consistent and believably logical.

And then you've got to consider...

Adult, Young Adult, or Middle-Grade/Early Reader?

I would avoid writing for an adult audience at all costs, unless you are in an adult-specific genre, or just feel you have to follow your muse rather than prostituting yourself. Adults read far fewer works of fiction, demand a freshness of plot that younger audiences don't yet know to demand, get annoyed with long series of books, and expect a book to be like 400+ pages. All of which is crazy.

YA is absolutely dominated by chick lit. Something about that broody, teenage chick mentality just drives it to endless consumption of supernatural romance. A lot of boys get less lit-focused around this age, having gobbled up their Harry Potter, R.L. Stine, etc., closer to 12-14.

Middle grade is the plum market for the male writer who wants to work in Horror or Fantasy. Just no smut, and no really graphic violence. MG boys are the quintessential Starving Crowd of the bookstores. The shelves literally burst with 10, 20, even 50 book series with covers that say things like, "5 Million Copies Sold!" for even mediocre titles. And the market renews itself yearly. The number of people working this model in the self-publishing world is staggering. Which is great, since fiction is a cooperative market. Plus, length expectation is only 30,000-50,000 words. You can get away with going longer, but that'll limit the number of titles you can crank out. Since nothing I write will ever get the kind of traction a Harry Potter series did (in no small part because I don't write that well), it will be far better for me to concentrate on more, shorter titles if I want that island nation while I'm still young enough to enjoy it. (An added bonus: these titles don't require a $1,000 investment in some piece of Boris Vallejo quality fantasy art for a cover. A cartooney cover works just fine.)

**********

So the upshot for me: Middle Grade Fantasy. Think shorter, more formulaic Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. Or longer, less formulaic Goosebumps. Or similarly-sized, slightly different Ranger's Apprentice or The Last Apprentice with a different D&D character as the young protagonist. These last books are serving as the plot templates for this first effort.

Done so far: Two prologues (really the same prologue, written twice), focusing on the shadowy introduction of the Big Bad, out of which I chose the one with the voice I liked better; and also chapters one and two, wherein our hero is disappointed to see the world as he knows it thrown into upheaval, and is set upon his coming of age journey. Will be slightly lighter and more comic in tone than the other Apprentice series books.

Got myself a little plot. Got myself a little protagonist. Nice little conflict brewing, there. Some hurdles to overcome. Etc.

Ain't gonna win any Pulitzers, but I'll be amazed if they don't sell. The recipe for success in self-publishing these days is pretty well worked out, and doesn't often fail unless you simply run out of steam before you finish writing. Naysayers are of course welcome, but I think you'll be surprised by how easy it is to make a buck in this gig.

 

[(HULK)]

Always wanted to write something someday...

 

[Bonfire]

I've been toying with the idea of a novel for a few years. It's basically about a giant great white shark that terrorizes a small island New England town. The main protagonist is, as luck would have, it man with a fear of water. I'm thinking of including a grizzly fisherman and a scientist type too. It will end with an epic showdown at sea.

I'm thinking of titling it "The scary shark who eats people, and is significantly bigger than average sharks."

 

[Freelove]

I've been toying with the idea of a novel for a few years. It's basically about a giant great white shark that terrorizes a small island New England town. The main protagonist is, as luck would have, it man with a fear of water. I'm thinking of including a grizzly fisherman and a scientist type too. It will end with an epic showdown at sea.

I'm thinking of titling it "The scary shark who eats people, and is significantly bigger than average sharks."

Seems a little wordy. Would probably sell, though. People like shark stories. God knows Steve Alten did pretty much exactly this and made a fortune off of it. Most horror plots are evergreen.

 

[snogger]

My 15 year old daughter might give you all a run for your money.. In the past year she has written 7 to 10 short story novels.. Some are Zombie related and vampire related depending on the mood she is in..

I've lost count as she tends to write two or three at the same time.. As she's writing one she'll think "Oh, that gives me an idea about the other one I'm writing" and jots down notes..

I think she keeps these stored on Google Docs...

If someone is up to critiquing/reading what goes through a 15 year old girls mind let me know and I'll see if I can get a link from her.

 

[Freelove]

My 15 year old daughter might give you all a run for your money.. In the past year she has written 7 to 10 short story novels.. Some are Zombie related and vampire related depending on the mood she is in..

I've lost count as she tends to write two or three at the same time.. As she's writing one she'll think "Oh, that gives me an idea about the other one I'm writing" and jots down notes..

I think she keeps these stored on Google Docs...

If someone is up to critiquing/reading what goes through a 15 year old girls mind let me know and I'll see if I can get a link from her.

Awesome.

<<< Pass that along.

 

[Freelove]

I don't understand what compels people to write a book just as a bucket list thing. Sure, if you're making a living off of it, but just to spend all that time writing a book no one is going to read.

Did you miss the part about buying the island nation? I may not be Stephanie Twilight, but I'm handy with both a keyboard and a marketing plan.

Step one: Write a book.

Step two: Write another book.

Step three: Put 1,000 word teaser and link to buy second book in back of first book.

Step three: Put book one up on Amazon for $X.XX, and on iTunes for free.

Step four: Get Amazon to price match, so it can forever say, "Awesome Book - $X.XX, now FREE!"

Step five: Put links to authorial blog/list-building MailChimp email collection site in each book, so I never miss a chance to whore myself.

Step six: Promote the hell out of them with targeted ad campaigns like Bookbub and Freebooksy.

Step seven: Write or contract out more books and go back and link all of them to each other.

Step eight: Buy island nation.

Today's plan: Library/bookstore research in AM, skeleton plotting over lunch, first crack at prologue/chapter 1 this evening.

Cool, I look forward to following this and wish you tons of luck.

Did you construct the above list from your own observations?

Tried and true stuff gleaned from Kboards successes and a few Facebook groups of successful indie authors, spruced up with a little of this and that from the Internet marketing world.

 

[Freelove]

How many pages are 50,000 words?

Might give this a shot.

Figure 250 per page. Though "page" doesn't really mean what it used to here in the Kindle/iPhone world.

ETA: so, like 200 traditional pages for your example.

ETA #2: 40,000 words is a pretty typical cutoff point that the biggest readers' group mailing lists demand before they'll consider letting you run a promo. Most genres are willing to consider that "novel length" in the modern e-bookish world.

 

[snogger]

I don't understand what compels people to write a book just as a bucket list thing. Sure, if you're making a living off of it, but just to spend all that time writing a book no one is going to read.

Did you miss the part about buying the island nation? I may not be Stephanie Twilight, but I'm handy with both a keyboard and a marketing plan.

Step one: Write a book.

Step two: Write another book.

Step three: Put 1,000 word teaser and link to buy second book in back of first book.

Step three: Put book one up on Amazon for $X.XX, and on iTunes for free.

Step four: Get Amazon to price match, so it can forever say, "Awesome Book - $X.XX, now FREE!"

Step five: Put links to authorial blog/list-building MailChimp email collection site in each book, so I never miss a chance to whore myself.

Step six: Promote the hell out of them with targeted ad campaigns like Bookbub and Freebooksy.

Step seven: Write or contract out more books and go back and link all of them to each other.

Step eight: Buy island nation.

Today's plan: Library/bookstore research in AM, skeleton plotting over lunch, first crack at prologue/chapter 1 this evening.

Since no one is going to read the first book, you can definitely skip steps 2 and 3

Depends.. If it is a continuing story they might.. As an example..

I never heard of Jonas Saul until my daily Email about free Amazon Kindle books came out with a free download of "The Warning"

Didn't even notice it was "Book Two" until I read the first couple chapters and they kept referencing back to something that happened 4 years ago..

Ended up going back and buying Book one, and since Book Two ended on a cliff hanger of sorts just had to buy book 3 to find out how it ended..

Just have to have a plan to your madness

 

[Johnny Rock]

Love your enthusiasm! I'll definitely follow along.

 

[mphtrilogy]

I'm in.

Registered.

Got 900 words so far.

Let's see if I can finish.

Book Title: "Here, There and Everywhere"

Genre: Fantasy

 

[Brony]

It was past midnight when the blonde smokin' hot lab assistant, who looked a little like Heather Locklear but with bigger jugs, was grabbed and thrown onto the lab table. He ripped off her lab coat and she grabbed his metallic extension. Oh, did I mention he was a robot? Because that's kinda important. Yeah, a robot. Awesome.

 

[Maik Jeaunz]

 

[Freelove]

It was past midnight when the blonde smokin' hot lab assistant, who looked a little like Heather Locklear but with bigger jugs, was grabbed and thrown onto the lab table. He ripped off her lab coat and she grabbed his metallic extension. Oh, did I mention he was a robot? Because that's kinda important. Yeah, a robot. Awesome.

Would read.

 

[mphtrilogy]

I'm in.

Registered.

Got 900 words so far.

Let's see if I can finish.

Book Title: "Here, There and Everywhere"

Genre: Fantasy

Day 2: 2700 Words in.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

I signed up. Why not.

 

[higgins]

 

[Nathan R. Jessep]

and good luck to those giving it a shot!

 

[mphtrilogy]

I'm in.

Registered.

Got 900 words so far.

Let's see if I can finish.

Book Title: "Here, There and Everywhere"

Genre: Fantasy

Day 2: 2700 Words in.

Day 3: 4338 words

 

[JFT Ben]

Hey FreeLove, glad to see I'm not the only one who follows this stuff. I am not sure I could do fiction, and am not doing NaNoWriMo, but put out a book this July: Average Married Dad's Guide to Health, Wealth, and a Sexy Marriage. Sort of a personal finance + fitness + paleoish eating guide (think Robb Wolf) + marriage (think in the Athol Kay vein) + sex + parenting. Nearly 300 pages in paperback. Used blog to promote, and sent some review copies to other bloggers in my circle. That's all the promo I did, responses have been good. Selling some every month, I don't really check sales that regularly but my royalties are somewhere in the $500 range across all platforms in that time frame. Writing took a long time, learning the self-pubbed end took awhile too (and I've made some mistakes, for example like where I just realized I had an updated version with some minor changes sitting in my Createspace account for the last two weeks waiting for proof to be approved, so hard copy paperback wasn't available for purchase during that time, should be up later today I'm guessing if past experience is any indication), but very cool experience making a little change on the side. I have about 35 pages of book #2 done, and maybe will use some of November to continue to chip away (haven't written anything for a couple months). Thanks for the motivation!

 

[Freelove]

I didn't do #### all day.

That's ok, though. I did research.

And by research, I mean I drank beer and #####ed about politics with other old dudes. Screw it, it's a national holiday for we grumps.

 

[Freelove]

I'm in.

Registered.

Got 900 words so far.

Let's see if I can finish.

Book Title: "Here, There and Everywhere"

Genre: Fantasy

Day 2: 2700 Words in.

Day 3: 4338 words

Way to go, man.

 

[Freelove]

Hey FreeLove, glad to see I'm not the only one who follows this stuff. I am not sure I could do fiction, and am not doing NaNoWriMo, but put out a book this July: Average Married Dad's Guide to Health, Wealth, and a Sexy Marriage. Sort of a personal finance + fitness + paleoish eating guide (think Robb Wolf) + marriage (think in the Athol Kay vein) + sex + parenting. Nearly 300 pages in paperback. Used blog to promote, and sent some review copies to other bloggers in my circle. That's all the promo I did, responses have been good. Selling some every month, I don't really check sales that regularly but my royalties are somewhere in the $500 range across all platforms in that time frame. Writing took a long time, learning the self-pubbed end took awhile too (and I've made some mistakes, for example like where I just realized I had an updated version with some minor changes sitting in my Createspace account for the last two weeks waiting for proof to be approved, so hard copy paperback wasn't available for purchase during that time, should be up later today I'm guessing if past experience is any indication), but very cool experience making a little change on the side. I have about 35 pages of book #2 done, and maybe will use some of November to continue to chip away (haven't written anything for a couple months). Thanks for the motivation!

Awesome, man! And all 5-star reviews so far, to boot!

I've known some people who had self-help books that were good, and well-reviewed, but were stalling out sales-wise, who managed to jump start sales by looking for hot topics that were slightly different, but related, and putting together a quickie "Ten Easy Steps to ______" whatever guide. Make it permafree on Amazon, and use it to link and upsell to your feature product and build your list for future releases.

Let me know if you're interested in details.

 

[TheAristocrat]

Interesting.