Rumbling Heart “Kickstart” Edition
In preparation for the release of 5 new books by the end of the year, I have decided to revamp my current release Rumbling Heart. In this updated release, currently called the Kickstart Edition, there will be several new and exciting extras to go along with the improved story. Here are some of the ideas that will hopefully make it into the new version:
- A “Did You Know?” section with interesting factoids about the book, the characters, and the process used in its development.
- Alternate Art and covers that were previously used or considered for the cover.
- Q&A section where the author Richard Allen and Executive Producer Emily Carmichael answer various questions about the book and their methods.
- A brand new cover which differs significantly from the current one.
As this will be the 3rd version of the book, any previous fans who redownload when the new version is released and go through the story again will notice several changes that we all feel needed to be made. While the overall story will remain intact, the most noticeable change will be overall length. The very first version was quite long, coming in at over 500 pages. The version that was at first going to be the first version was around 525 pages so there was already some significant editing work done on that one. Version two was even shorter, coming in at about 475 pages. Regardless of the fact that significant edits had already been done, we felt it best to shorten the book even further. While we do not have a page count at the moment, the effort to shorten the book will hopefully take it down to as little as 400 pages. While this is in the higher range of our estimates, we still want to be sure that the overall quality of the story does not suffer so don’t be surprised if we don’t hit that number. Keep in mind that 400 pages would be the story itself and not include any bonus content.
Keep in mind that if you already purchased this book from Amazon, all you have to do to get the new version when it comes out is download it again. There should not be any additional cost.
Keep your eyes open for more information regarding the 5 books slated to be released by the end of the year as well as more information on Rumbling Heart: Kickstart Edition.
Heroes and Bad Reviews
Sometimes distractions can lead us away from our goals. Often times I find myself getting tunnel vision when I am writing an idea and that’s not always the best thing. For the stories I am developing, I had a point A to point B plan and that was not the way it should have been. There is more to a great book than who, what, when, where, and why. An explanation can be developed from those, but not a great story. Sometimes stepping away and doing other things can help you reclaim your idea from a narrow vision and assist you in turning a good idea into an magnificent book.
In October, I purposely stepped away from my stories and kept myself from writing. Why? I felt like I was becoming bored with the process. I still had idea I knew were good, but I felt like something was lacking in my writing. I needed to find a way to develop more than just an A to B story. My first book Rumbling Heart was more than an A to B story and it shows in the quality of the development not only of the work, but also the characters and the atmosphere. Sometimes reading a book can help you reevaluate and refocus on what you are trying to do. In my case though, being able to now see things from a different angle is a double-edged sword.
I looked over my work and even over some reviews and bits of feed back I have gotten over my work. The good reviews are always nice, but it is the bad reviews that always stick with you. Why? Just human nature I suppose. Here is a snippet of a negative review RH got and my response to it.
Negative reviews happen. There is no way around it. Being a writer I accept that and I know there will always be people who either do not understand my work or, for whatever reason, want to find reasons to make it seem as if I did a huge disservice to the human race. I did find it interesting that this person thought her review was constructive. You can see my response to her review in the photo as well. Her response was once again nonconstructive. I liken this review to calling someone names because that is essentially what they did. If you feel the need to call me (or my work) “stupid” without offering any reason as to why you felt that way or any way to improve it, the review is completely pointless. Offering no way to improve on something is about as bad as crying because you didn’t get your way. If I were a coach and I told a child they were terrible at football or whatever other sport I was coaching them in, I wouldn’t remain a coach very long. Obviously you cannot really liken coaching to reviewing a book or a movie or whatever else you can give feedback on. Reviewers aren’t coaches. I realize that. But at the same time people who do offer feedback need to understand that the main reason you give feedback, be it positive, negative, or mixed, is so people who develop their ideas can improve and make things better the next time around. What is the point of simply calling people or their work names? Sounds to me like certain individuals either lack the ability to express themselves or they feel the need to tear someone down.
Success also breeds negativity.
I will not say I am very successful. I haven’t sold a ton of books and I haven’t made all kinds of money at this. It was never really about money anyway. I have over the last year and a half gotten hurtful messages and emails from people who see that I was somehow able to hash it out and write a book. Not many people can say they’ve done that. Sure, some people can write a small story, but my first book was 475+ pages. A little long, but anyone has to admit that writing a book of that size takes time and commitment. My followup to my first book is much shorter, but still comes in at about 300 pages. No small feat. Another big story for me which is about 70% complete will probably come in at about 275 pages. Again, not many people in the world can say they can sit down and accomplish such a thing. I am not saying I should automatically get a great review for the effort, but I would hope that people like me…artists…deserve at the very least a review explaining exactly why our work is either good, bad, or mixed.
A good review does not always have to be positive. If you gave me 1 or 2 stars, but explained why this or that was unappealing to you, I could respect that. Not offering any explanation whatsoever makes me think the person is either just looking to be mean or trolling. In a way, they are kind of the same thing.
If you are a reviewer like I am from time to time, do the artist a favor and explain why you think one way or another. In the end, we will thank you for it and so will other readers.
Getting Rid of Small Balances on Gift Cards
I was doing a little research on gift cards. Over time, I have managed to accumulate a handful of Visa and American Express gift cards. One of the major downfalls of these cards is that, in some cases, you can never fully utilize the amount that was gifted to you. On several cards, I manged to leave small amounts on them; so small in fact that it would be rather embarrassing to use them for payment anywhere you might go. To solve this problem of too many gift cards and nowhere to spend the small amounts, I turned to my old friend Amazon.
I have purchased various goods from Amazon for many years now and I must say they have definitely earned my trust. They are very good when it comes to deals and if you ever need to return something, they are always helpful and courteous. They are also my store of choice whenever I buy music. Yes, I have an iPod, but the Apple iTunes store is often overpriced and I do not like the Apple format they use for music. I prefer MP3’s which Amazon sells. Regardless if you like Amazon for music like me or if you buy other stuff like eBooks, DVDs, etc. they are a good option if you have a handful of low value gift cards you are looking to get rid of.
So, how exactly does this work out? Amazon gift cards. I know what you are thinking. Trading in one gift card for another. It may seem that way, but it’s really not. For someone like me that buys from Amazon at least once a month, it’s a great option. All you have to do is go to the website and select gift cards. It will give you an option as to how you want to gift the funds. I chose email as all it would do is send me an email with a clickable link to add the funds to my Amazon account.
It took a little patience, but I was able to move over a decent amount of money to my Amazon account which will eventually get used up. The one issue I found was in using the VISA Vanilla gift cards. Amazon states you can gift as little as $.15, but when I tried to use the VISA Vanilla to gift myself the remaining $.75 on the card, it always cancelled my order. Bummer. The other card types used were the American Express gift card and a bank gift card that works as a debit card. The two AMEX cards I used were for the amounts of $1.75 and $1.70 and had no problems with those. The Bank debit gift card was a larger amount so no problem there either. It could just be that Amazon is not crazy about eating the charges that go along with processing the smaller amounts on some cards.
I know this isn’t the perfect plan for everyone, but it worked well for me. Now I have some credit that I can use next time I want a DVD or some music. Like I said, I really like Amazon so it works for me. If you have never used Amazon, give it a look. There are always good deals there and shipping in most cases is really small. Often times they have a deal where you get free shipping on orders over $25 which I almost always take advantage of.
Like I said, not a perfect solution, but a decent option; especially since I know a few of us got some of these gift cards over Christmas!
New Year’s Free Promotion – All Releases
To celebrate the New Year, both myself and Ruby Jones are offering our titles for free for a short time starting December 31st!
Check out Ruby’s book We Are All Retarded on Amazon by clicking here! Keep in mind, Ruby’s book carries an audience recommendation of ADULTS ONLY.
You can pick up my short story Last Night by clicking here. This release is rated 13+ foradult content.
Also make sure to pick up Rumbling Heart which is the first in a series based in and around the Eureka, California universe. You can pick up this release by clicking here. This book is rated 14+ for adult language, adult situations and content, and scenes of dramatic peril.
Get’em fast! This free offer only lasts till January 2nd. Three free books available for three days! Go get’em now!
Is It Wrong of Me?
I know the first thing people are going to think. No, I am not bitter. I enjoy other people’s success. When people become successful, I am genuinely happy for them. That being said, I do find it ironic that people who don’t put as much hard work and dedication into their writing are somehow making it.
Example.
I am reading a book which will remain nameless as I don’t want this to come across as lashing out at this person. I do not know them personally so this is not a personal attack. Their book is doing very well, hanging around in the Amazon top 100. I pick it up and start reading it and think it’s not so bad…except for the editing. I am in no way taking away from the story as it seems decent and is keeping me interested, yet the editing is almost non existent. Virtually every single page has errors on it. I am not making this up. Pick a page and there will be an error on it. Quotations are incorrectly used throughout, periods are in the wrong places, ellipses are used and spaced incorrectly…yet it’s top 100.
Sigh.
Maybe I am being just a bitter pill. I work for almost 2 years on a book and go line by line, making sure it’s virtually error free, yet a book that would be rejected by a college English teacher is making it. Like I said, her story isn’t bad. Of course I would think mine is better, but it just pains me to see that more of us indie writers are still carrying this black eye because of terrible editing like this making it out there. The saddest part is I doubt anyone except writers and editors are even really noticing or caring. Call me old fashion, but if you are going to write a book, at least make sure you edit the hell out of it. A few mistakes are fine, but every page?
Proofs Are In
I am sitting here holding my book and thinking the white paper over creme was a good choice. I like the way the cover came out. I didn’t want it to look overly polished. I wanted to give it an older, sort of used look. I’m not sure people will understand that though so I am considering updating the cover slightly.
Ruby is Blowing Up!
She is currently #40 in Humor – Amazon Best Seller list and moving up strong. If this keeps up, I can see her breaking the top 100 overall very soon so lets keep those downloads going!
http://www.amazon.com/We-Are-All-Retarded-ebook/dp/B007EVYCWA/
Writers and Honesty
I am going to get some hate mail for this post, but this will be nothing new for me.
Being that I am a writer by profession, I obviously know a ton of other writers of various genres. While in college, I was an English major so I know a thing or two about literary writing. Not saying I am the all knowing, just saying I know good writing when I see it. This is my 2 cents.
While not concentrating on my writing, I occasionally have people ask me to read their work who want “an honest review.” I am ok with that. I’m not the kind of person to massage another’s ego just so they can feel good. If i see flaws or what I feel are flaws in someone work, I point it out. I feel i give real literary reviews. I don’t just tear into a work and say hateful things like “THIS IS AWFUL!” or “This author sucks!” No. Sorry. That’s not professional or helpful in any way. What I do point out are both the good points and the shortcomings of a book. Perhaps a character was left underdeveloped or maybe there was a loose end that was left untied. I will point those things out in a heartbeat. I will also offer praise if warranted. If the story was solid with good character development and keep the reader interested, I will say that as well. I very rarely give 5 star reviews because I feel that almost any book can always be better. That being said, I;ve discovered one thing in the writing community.
Writers do not want honesty.
They want someone to rub their shoulders and tell them that they’re the next frickin Hemingway. They want only reviews that make their work sound like it’s the next Harry Potter series. It’s not! It’s clucking horrifying! Ok, maybe not that bad, but it can definitely use some work. I cannot tell you how many people have stopped following me on twitter, have placed me on ignore, and have flat out just lied about me all because I gave what I felt was a very honest and objective review of their work. I had someone unfollow and ignore me because I gave their work a 3.3/5 on a competitor’s website. Hey, last I checked, 3.3 out of 5 is not too shabby. It’s obviously not perfect, but I’m also not calling your work complete and utter dog [expletive deleted].
To all my fellow writers, I say this: Grow thicker skin! The world is not a nice place. People are mean and vicious and some of them will only want to tear you down. If you get a legitimate, critical review of your book, take those words and think about them and learn from them. As a writer, I do feel we are on the same team. Heck, the same family, and like a good and loving brother, I will tell you when you need to brush up on a few things. I’ve had people call my work complete crap and that’s ok. I’ve also had beneficial reviews and because of those I am becoming a better writer.
Early On
Through the first 6 chapters, the rewrite is looking so much better than the original. It is pretty insane just how much you learn about yourself in a year. I think I’ve finally found a writing style that fits my personality. I think early on I was trying too hard to make certain language and insight work, so much so that some of the message was lost in translation. I am simplifying those areas that were too obtuse and making the language easier to comprehend. There are still a few things in there that are purposely difficult to understand and I am keeping them in there for certain reasons pertaining to the story itself.
Once the rewrite is done for RH, I will move onto RB. Emily will need minimal rewrite, maybe a little tinkering here and there to make sure story lines are kept in tact.
Once EM is done, then it’s back to the final book. I am already 70 pages onto it. The last one will need major editing when i get finished with it. As it has progressed, I have no doubt that it will easily hit 200k words, probably even 230k which is too large. I don’t want it to be any larger than say 215k words and that’s pushing it. I would like to see it stay around 200k at the most so that people still get all they can from the final installment, yet do not start falling asleep toward the end.
You can still purchase the current version of Rumbling Heart over on Amazon, but I won’t blame anyone for waiting till the rewrite is done. I don’t see it taking anymore than 10 more days.
Amazon Author Biography
I spend a little time and worked on the biography on the author page I have set up on Amazon.com. It seems pretty solid and I think I will leave it as it is, but I wouldn’t mind a little feedback. I tried as much as I could to focus on the work and how it came to be. Although I don’t have any reservations about keeping many of my personal details out of it, I still wanted to make the page about the books so that could be focused on and not so much on me. I figure if people really are that interested in the work, then they will eventually want to find out more about me. That will come with time. Have a look at the page here and let me know what you think.
I duplicated this data for the Smashwords bio page as well which can be viewed here.
Emily Martin and Last Night
All Links are live. You can access them here.
Ty all for the continued support. I’ve found that even now, I have a few people lingering around that would rather see me fail in my attempts to make something of myself. I also know there will always be people who hate me because I am able to do something they are not. I will not recognize their attempts at trying to derail my passion by mentioning them by name. All I will do is just keeping doing what I do. As the old internet saying goes, “haters gonna hate.”
The development of my short story into a film is proof that persistence can pay off. I spoke with the director last night and we have come up with some very workable ideas and it looks like we can really make it happen. It may not be tomorrow or next week or even next month, but it will get made. It will be taken to various film festivals and hopefully, we will gain some recognition not only from our peers, but also from those who never stopped believing in us.
We may not become rich or famous, but we will change people’s ideas about the subject matter that we cover. I think when all is said and done and our film is made, I can look back at all the hate that’s come my way and laugh a little, knowing that all their harsh words did was strengthen my resolve.
Not everyone can write a poem or a short story or a full novel for that matter. It takes endless nights of tedious editing and corrections to get the story exactly the way you want it. Not everyone can pull that off. I’ve done it now for the third time. There will be at least one more. I find it funny that people who say my work is terrible have never even read it so…how could they possibly know? I can understand criticism if you’d read at least one of my works, but to say my material isn’t any good when you’ve not even looked at it shows only a lack of self respect. I feel sorry for people like that because those same people who hate me are the ones that know deep down they could never do what I do. I’m not saying these things to show off my ego because I really don’t have one. Just as I do not hate those who work in other professions and do their jobs well, I would hope that others would at least do me the courtesy of being decent, but that’s people for you. People fear what they do not know and they hate others for no other reason than that they possess or have accomplished things they never could.
I may not end up with an Academy award or a Pulitzer in my hands, but I will still have my books. Even after I am gone, those will still be here. For generations to come, my words and stories will echo through time. What will you leave behind? What will be your legacy? Bitterness? Hate? Obviously, those are not very admirable traits. I know I’m not nearly a perfect person, but I do have things most yearn to have: passion, love, persistence, patience, and plenty of stories to tell.
You have a choice. You can either listen as I tell them or hate me as I move forward and write more. Heck, even ignoring me shows more than standing around and hating me. When you stand there and speak badly of me, it only goes to show that I’ve got your attention so I must be doing something right.
Maybe one day people filled with hate will be ready to move on and do something more with their lives. I don’t have the greatest life and I do not claim to be famous or rich or even popular. I am just me. A writer’s life isn’t all that glamorous. I sit in a room in front of a screen, typing out endless ideas and making them into something that might touch people…and I am ok with that. If I choose to give my art away, that’s my choice. After all, it’s my talent and not yours.
Who knows really when all this writing will end. Ultimately, that’s up to me. I’ve openly stated that I may not write another novel after the final RH installment. Maybe that’s all I have to give. Maybe I’ve said what I needed to say. Only I can make that decision. Know this though, when I’m heading out the door, I want to leave my work with people who will protect it’s artful quality and do something meaningful with it.