Monday, April 07, 2014

Coming Soon...

In the "Things Coming Soon" department, this a head's up that I've agreed to take part in a blog tour about the writing process.  Next Monday I'll be posting my blog, but if you're curious about what's gone before, you can check out the guy who tagged me, Conrad Zero, here: http://www.conradzero.com/2014-writing-process-blog-tour/

Also, I'm spending today writing and polishing my next installment of the Precinct 13 sequel for WattPad.  If you're confused about what I'm doing over there, the short of it is that I've really struggled with motivation to write ever since I was dropped by my publisher.  The idea of posting this is a work-in-progress on WattPad is to keep the momentum going.  I am really hoping to develop a following and a community there, so I can be encouraged to keep on keeping on.

I can't really say it's working so far.  It's possible that I've been silent too long.  My readers may have given up on me, which is totally fair.  I really dropped out of the scene pretty hard.

I probably should have considered doing this sort of self-publishing thing immediately, but, the truth is I held out hope that one of my other projects would sell quickly.  Obviously, that didn't happen, and when it didn't, I was very thrown for a loop.  I still have projects that I'm hoping my agent will be able to sell, but I probably wasted a lot of valuable time scrambling around trying to fight a system that changed on me, seemingly overnight.

For instance, she and I were still trying to sell books on proposal, which, apparently, despite how many books you've had published, you really can't do any more.  You need to have a finished project, ideally, but, if not that, then a lot of finished product to show off.  I didn't have that, and so when there was interest, I had to scramble and write... which I'm not as good at. I did my very best, but I'm much better at having a chance to have a lot of revision and time to feel my way into a character and the plot.  So, no surprise, those 'samples' fell flat for a lot of publishers....

...which, of course, only continued to depress me.

So, the whole idea behind publicly posting my work on WattPad was to up my confidence.  But, alas, I've lost half my readers between my first post and my second.  So... that kind of sucks.  I'm not sure what to make of it.  It wasn't like I had an overwhelming response for my first post, either.

However, I'm still trying to use the publication schedule I've set for myself as a motivator.  At least if I write a 2,000+ word installment a week, that's forward progress. Considering that previously I was writing zero words a week, that's a very good thing.  So, I'm not ready to write off this experience just yet.  Not by a long shot.

For those who are wondering, yes, the end result should be a self-published e-book.  Provided, of course, I stick with this.

7 comments:

FN -Owner said...

I adore you and I will wait however long it takes. I love your writing and I will continue to follow you and read you!

tate hallaway said...

Aw! Thank you! I really appreciate it!

Glinda Harrison said...

I am very, very excited about the sequel to Precinct 13 and have been recommending the book to people and trying to spread the word about the sequel.

Please try to bear with us until everybody finds out about it. I have been trying to be sure to check every week, but remember that some people don't care for serials and may show up to grab a bigger chunk to read. :)

I really love the characters and the world you have created here and appreciate your effort!

Katryne said...

I'm enjoying it. I was really looking forward to a sequel for Precinct 13 originally and am glad you have found a way to continue. I hope you are able to stick with it, I'm sure more people than you think are reading.

tate hallaway said...

Thanks Glinda and Katryne! I've been suspecting I might be impatient. I know it takes time to build an audience, but it really helps to know I have allies out there spreading the word. Thank you so MUCH.

You made my day. And I wrote the newest bit, so there will be more to read later today!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely loved Precinct 13. I often search your name on Amazon to see if something new had come up. Finally, I googled you (stalked? Yikes) and found your blog. I didn't know you got dropped. What crap! I don't know watt pad but I'll try to figure it out!

tate hallaway said...

Wattpad is kind of an annoying interface, but when you do find it, you'll discover you can log-on for free and you'll have 17 (including today's) installments of the sequel to read. I'm also in the process of revising what I post there through my writers' group and will have a finished e-book when all is said and done, if you don't want to read as you go.

Thanks, and yeah, it's kind of a bummer, but I've finally found a way to motivate myself to write forward again, so that's a yay!