Mundane Haze

This one's about motivation.

When I'm not doing something new and interesting, I live in a haze of automatic action. (Being drunk just makes it Official.) That's why I write, because I have a million ideas and I can't put all of them into practice immediately. Heinlein invented the waterbed and the waldo just off the top of his head while pounding out thousands of words. I find myself doing the same thing, just coming up with Solutions to problems I don't have. Problems that I, in fact, made up for myself to solve.

All the while I have to cook, clean, walk, exercise, earn. I have to do all this random maintenance and monetization (m&m, if you will) just to stay alive and be able to do all this Creative stuff. It's mind-numbing and sometimes I don't even notice it. I have dreams that I can't distinguish from reality, so that I don't even know when I've even done all this m&m or whether I've just dreamed that I have.

But in the end, it Doesn't Matter, because nobody cares whether I cook, clean, walk, or exercise. The only thing that matters is what I Create. Why I write? Because writing is one of the few things that is permanent, it's a finished product that everybody can see and read...forever (give or take a few disasters). Even relative ephemera like this blog post is more permanent than all that m&m.

I live my life as if I will die before my next birthday, so I'm relaxed after January 4th but become frenetic and productive as December approaches. All this great stuff I'm pouring out needs to be available, just in case.

So, my motivation to write? Be Creative, Live Forever. In a ridiculously self-centered way.

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Wild. Anyways, I started (and finished) a fantasy short story today. Yes, with magic. I took Ty Johnston's helpful advice on my "Fantasy" post and ran with it. It's pretty interesting, and I think it works. Whether it's Great is up to the reader. We'll see what develops.

There aren't any Puritans in the story, but here's a picture of one for your amusement. Man, those guys knew how to dress. Barely.

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4000 words? Yes
Book "Lived Too Long To Die"
Short Story "Sorcerer's Hire" - finished, spell-checking
- - - -
Reading - ?

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Self-Promotion

I don't think it's all that important.

Here's all I do to promote my writing: Blog, Twitter, a Facebook fan page (which I never use...), the free ad at Critters Writers Workshop, and working on having a lot of work available for convenient purchase.

Not particularly shameless, but it also doesn't distract me from what I'm supposed to be doing. Once I get these books up, I might do a little bit more self-promotion (guest posts, review copies, etc.). Just for the experiment.

I'm sure at least one eBook trailer will be spawned. It'll be a video of me talking on Skype with a suspiciously enthusiastic person who looks like me wearing a mask, to wit:

"So How Do You Get Your Ideas, David!?!"

"From the tears of Angels."

That's a good synopsis of the book, I guess. And a sweet new title and/or theme song!

From the tears of Angels/I left you yesterday...
I knew you wanted to talk/But I had nothin' to say.
If only you'd get better, then I'd be happy to stay...
From the tears of Angels/I don't want to see you cry.

Eh.

(Bonus points to the first person to notice the new thing I've managed to figure out how to do with the blog design!)

Link

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Speaking of self-promotion, cover art is pretty important. My cover art is serviceable, but I'd really like to take it up a notch at some point. Trawling the internet I find a lot of great artists and I'm pretty sure there'll be no problem finding an artist who's willing to make an awesome cover. For money!

Of course, that'll be when this Experiment enters Phase II: Making Money.

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250 words? Yes
Book "Lived Too Long To Die"
- - - -
Reading - ?

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The eBook Pricing Topic

Since everybody's talking about it all of a sudden, I'll talk about it too. I'm so original.

Here's my general path through the discourse:
J. A. Konrath --> Moses Siregar III --> Dean Wesley Smith --> David Barron (that's me!)

My opinion remains mostly what I'd already decided anyways, so I'll just lay out my reasoning.

Short Story - $0.99
It's the price of a song, which is roughly comparable. Once Amazon does something with the Kindle Singles program, we'll see what develops. In three months I will have data for six stories.

Book - $4.99-5.99
A number in the middle of the $2.99-$9.99 70% Royalties Range. In three months or so I should have a book or two up and then three months after that will be able to to have data.

Everything In Between - $2.99
A number at the bottom of that 70% royalties range. I'm not concerned with setting the price by the word count because readers don't care. They know the rough difference, and so long as the story is as long or short as it needs to be, they'll be happy. I'll probably have some of these up sooner rather than later and be getting some data three months after that.

Something Fancy - $6.99-$9.99
comic book (er..."graphic novel"), illustrated book, illuminated manuscript, niche work, whatever. I'll know it when I see it.

That's really all there is to it for me. If it doesn't work, I'll change, but I'm more concerned with Quality Control than Marketing. Or, I suppose, I'm more concerned with Quality Control as Marketing.

Back to Writing!

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But first Money Girl will pay me a visit. Get it? Pay? (har!)

Every time I peruse stock photography I have to wonder where they get all these models. Do the models know they're going to be stock photographs? Wouldn't that be a little dispiriting?

There's a lot of depth to Money Girl. You would see the tears rolling down her cheeks if she didn't lightly dab them away with the dollar bills she's holding.

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250 words? Yes
Book "At The Mountains of Malapert" - part III
- - - -
Reading - ?

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Away From Blog, Day Four

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David's adventure is picking up the pace as it nears a conclusion. Can he avoid romantic entanglements long enough to get home, or is he doomed to walk the Earth forever alone, with only his tears for nourishment? Answer the second question first, and then Ponder:

A long time ago in an Orwellian future in a galaxy far far away, you are a young accountant toiling away at his job on a desert planet. Two robots appear with a strange tale of adventure and corruption, and you walk outside, confused, to look up at the twin suns. Suddenly you realize that you are the fifth in the two plus two that makes five. What do you do about it?

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250 words? Yes
Project "Untitled"
- - - -
Reading - ?

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Away From Blog, Day Three

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David's adventure to the beginning of time and back again has hit a snag when his time machine runs out of gas. Fortunately, in his pocket he finds an advertisement for Snickers(tm) and has a delicious blast to the peanut past. While you're waiting for him to catch up, ponder:

In a Dark Feudalism, you are a squire who just promoted himself to knight after killing his evil master and taking his stuff. After some adventures, you come across a castle and figure you're due for another promotion. How do you assault this Ivory Tower?

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250 words? Yes
Project "Untitled"
- - - -
Reading - ?

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Away From Blog, Day Two

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David's sexy adventure continues, to the delight of all. O! Were you me, you'd be glad you weren't you. While he's away, ponder this:

You're a flourishing society (Pop: 2 billion) on an ice planet. What form of government do you have?

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250 words? Yes
Project "Untitled"
- - - -
Reading - ?

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Away From Blog, Day One

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David Barron is journeying to the edge of the future to engage in sexy adventures the likes of which you wish you could merely dream about. He'll be back soon, but until then consider this:

If you had a merchant vessel (sea, air and/or space) what would you name it?

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250 words? Yes
Project "Untitled"
- - - -
Reading - ?


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