National Novel Writing Month 2016.
My Progress: Or Lack Of It.
Last week I wrote that I was going to take part in National Novel Writing Month 2016. It is 4 November and here is my first promised update.
I’ll keep it short and sweet: I am behind. I have done no work writing a novel in the past four days.
Oh, I created a cover in Photoshop in my downtime and read a book on writing for a particular genre which was horrible. I won’t name the book because it would be impolite to do so-the book was utterly awful. It was possibly the worst book I’ve ever read about writing fiction.
This still plenty of time left, and I’m not worrying too much about the challenge at the moment. I will worry if I haven’t done anything by this time next week.
Just like my niche challenge updates, to make up for the fact that I’m probably lazier than I should be, I am going to write some random thoughts on fiction writing.
Can You Make Money Writing Fiction In 2017?
I would argue that there has never been a better time to write fiction.
Traditional publishing is going the way of the dodo.
I am telling everyone who is reading that the traditional publisher is going to go the way of the traditional record label in the music industry.
It will be replaced by thousands of boutique publishing houses and self published authors. This is exactly the same as how record labels have by and large been placed by tech companies offering publishing services directly to musicians.
The publishing industry is going to work out exactly the same as that.
What this means for the budding author is that you don’t have to worry about the New York or London-based gatekeepers anymore. You simply write a book, learn how to publish it yourself, learn how to market it yourself and then sell it yourself.
The great news with that is that you get to keep all of the profits.
But it also means the responsibility is on your head.
If I fail the national novel writing challenge twenty sixteen project I have going, then I will have no one to blame but myself. That is one of the problems with modern publishing-you bear the responsibility yourself.
- You can’t blame a publishing house if your book is released on time when you are the publishing house.
- Nor can you blame an editor for poor editing when you hire the editor.
- You can’t blame a big company for your procrastination.
That said, in the end you will reap the rewards if you work hard and work fast.
I recommend reading my articles on writing at pop speed and thinking like pulp writer. You can check them out here:
- How To Write At Pulp Speed
- Why This Era is Good For Pulp Fiction Economics
- Post-Modern Pulp Fiction (Part 1)
- One Draft Writing: More Money, Less Time
Some Other Stuff On Fiction
I’ve written about fiction a few times before.
For those of you who’ve hopped straight to this article from Google (or wherever) and are unfamiliar with my site, I believe the following:
- Every Word You Write Is An Asset
- Kindle Unlimited Is a BAD Idea for Authors
- Writing Success Is Cumulative
I’ve also written a few other articles on fiction writing that aren’t coming to mind right now. You can feel free to browse the archives though.
(Also, read some of the stuff that’s not about fiction writing. Sales, marketing and being a self-published author go hand in hand – as a self-published author, if you can’t market and sell your books, then nobody else is going to.)
Final Thoughts
This has been short article today because I don’t have much to write. Writing fiction is only one project I have going on at the moment, and it isn’t a priority. This will change as I get closer to achieving the deadline I’ve set.
I’m probably not going to release a book on December 1 like I talked about in the first article in this series. That is because I’ve got an entirely new project in mind which I have stolen from Dean Wesley Smith. I’ll link to his site here so that you can have a guess at what it is if you’re interested. It’s related to this post I wrote earlier in the week.
If not, then I will reveal all at the end of the month.
As a final note for now on writing fiction – don’t wait for someone to come and help you. There are hundreds and thousands of writers who wait for the perfect time to write a book. There are countless writers who’ve finished a book and wait for a publisher to come and save them from being an amateur writer.
Don‘t wait for a publisher, agent or guardian angel. Write your book. Sell your book. Move on to the next one!
Until next week…