C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

See all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

11/26/2024 • 11:07 AM 0

We’re Going Somewhere Together

I’m not going away. We are merging.

After gaining a lot of experience with both traditional and indie publishing, I’m finally doing something I should have done quite a while ago! For years, I blogged here daily. Then I told you I’d only blog when I had something new or different to say. The archives are extensive, after all, and much of the old stuff you’ll find here still holds up nicely.

Now, aside from posting on social media and publishing books, I’m going to go exclusive with my author website, AllThatChazz.com.

Chazzwrites.com has always been a site for writers. From here, I’ve encouraged subscribers to head over to my author site to check out my books. I’d built a following, helped people, and met wonderful fellow writers through this space. Frankly, I was nervous about letting go of this blog. I’ll keep this blog up for the benefit of those searching the archives, but it’s time to consolidate (and, not for nothin’, appeal to readers, not only to other writers).

I’m not slowing down. I’m speeding up.

Longtime readers may recall a time when I published as many as four books a year. For the last couple of years, due to pain, a couple of hip replacements, and a lot of rehab with my physiotherapist, I had to take time away from the keyboard. I had to feel sorry for myself, play a lot of Sniper Elite, and watch a lot more TV. I haven’t published since (the award-winning and fantastic) Endemic. It’s been rough, but that phase of my life is over. I’m biking an hour a day and working out for another hour each day. I’m mobile, almost always pain-free, waking up earlier, feeling great, and eating right. I’m a productive, full-time writer again! Expect my next thriller, Vengeance Is Hers, early next year.

So I’m asking all visitors to move over to my author site.

Here’s a sampling of some recent posts from AllThatChazz.com:

What Holds Up? A post about the books you once loved and now might not (plus a book recommendation).

Anger, Humour, Spite. A post you’ll love about where the words come from.

Sincerely, What Else Can I Do for You? Finding out what readers want.

This is My First Novel with a Disclaimer. About Vengeance is Hers, and your many, many enemies.

Forgive and Forget? But How? Should you forgive? I’m not so sure.

Crime Thrillers are a Different Kind of Apocalypse The apocalyptic genre has cooled for the moment, but there’s room for different kinds of scary thrillers.

New Cover Reveal! Dream’s Dark Flight has a fresh face!

Inspiration, Off the Beaten Track. Sick of the same old movie sequels and reboots? Try graphic novels.

And more about Vengeance Is Hers:

COMING IN 2025

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

See you over at my ONE blog site:

AllThatChazz.com.

Filed under: My fiction, publishing, robert chazz chute, the writing life, allthatchazz, allthatchazz.com, books, fiction, publishing, Robert Chazz Chute, self-publishing, thriller, writer, writing

03/18/2024 • 11:29 AM 3

Imagine you are a book marketing guru

Recently, I saw a personal trainer talk about how nice people are scammed into questionable (and expensive) nutritional courses. Then I made the connection to publishing, and I’m sad now.

So here’s how you do it. (Hint: Don’t do this)

Let’s play the bad guy for a minute. You were an author first, but now you make much more money selling shovels and pickaxes than you ever would panning for gold. Writing books is for suckers. Marketing courses to aspiring authors is where the money is.

You claim to have all the answers to getting books flying off digital shelves, right? Your first strategy is to suck in the rubes and noobs. You go all over social media to promote your courses. You’re on every podcast when you make the big push. You pat yourself on the back so hard, you’re in serious danger of injuring your shoulder. Hundreds of desperate authors, maybe thousands over time, sign up to learn how to finally make Facebook, Google, TikTok, X, or Amazon ads work for them. They’re all just one click away from living at a resort in Fiji, or so you say.

Authors: When the pitch to boost your book income homes in on your inability to buy expensive Christmas presents and go on exotic vacations, watch out! They’re using cheap tactics to push your pain points to make the sale.

But here comes the bigger con:

Of all those new students the guru hauls up in his net, a few outliers will get positive results. Those few outliers will promote the next course and sing all the praises. Rinse and repeat, and each course gets bigger and more expensive. Huzzah! You’re a marketing genius! You’re the captain everyone looks to in hopes you can steer their ship past the rocks.

Except, uh-oh! For most authors, it won’t work. Don’t just focus on the outliers claiming staggering results.

This phenomenon is not unique to book marketing. Forbes will ballyhoo the latest investment guru on their cover each year because that’s how math works. One hedge fund manager will make the most each year, sure. But will you ever see that person on the top of the pile again? There is only one Warren Buffet per thousands of pretenders to his throne.

Some, but not all, reasons for book marketing failures:

Put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig. Great marketing for the wrong book can, at best, spread the word fast that a lousy book is lousy.
The cover art is wrong for its genre.
The cover art is plain bad.
Your blurb sucks.
Your blurb doesn’t hit the expected tropes for its genre.
Your book is fine, but its niche is too small, and you have too few reviews.
Your book could sell well, but it can take an immense amount of experimentation to make the marketing stars align. In this case, the guru didn’t necessarily fail. You didn’t do the thing, or didn’t do it enough, or didn’t listen in class.
You don’t have the budget to move that needle.
Your chosen genre is cold, or just not hot enough to move the needle to justify the ad cost.
What worked for ads in the past isn’t working now.
Some successes don’t look so good on further examination. An outlier may proudly proclaim the gross, but never hint what the appearance of success cost them. Folks with huge ad spends can look great on social media, but a spreadsheet would tell the true tale: The ad spend was so heavy, their net is far, far less than their gross.
Your book marketing guru is full of shit and uses the tactics noted above to build his Empire of Shit.

Solutions?

Honestly assess your book’s marketability (or consult other authors with experience about its marketability).
Save up for that ad budget.
Focus on one ad platform at a time.
Invest the time to learn from free resources (YouTube, TikTok, or near-free from books). That’ll save some cash and allow you to better judge the offerings from potential gurus in the future. (Not all book marketers are bad.)
Be social with other authors and get recommendations for further guidance from trusted sources.
Stalk your guru to see if his values align with yours. If he sounds like a dick, don’t sign up!
Listen carefully to their answers for obfuscation. I asked a guru a test question. His answer was, “That’s a good question! (Condescending tone) That’s where you have to get creative. Next question…” Um…what? Thanks for the non-answer, douche canoe.*
Check to see if your guru sells a lot of his or her own books.
Be skeptical. If it sounds too good to be true, punch ’em in the spleen. Y’know…metaphorically.

*That’s douchebag in Canadian.

Filed under: book marketing, publishing, books, Marketing, publishing, Robert Chazz Chute, self-publishing, selling books, writer, writing

04/23/2023 • 7:17 PM 5

Waiting for Dawn on the Comeback Trail

The first twenty minutes of coming back from the dead are the worst. After forty-four staples on a ten-inch wound, I’m working on my comeback.

Minor detail: I wasn’t coming back from the dead. I was returning to consciousness after major surgery. I thought I was dying, though. The last thing I remember was a surgical team member lowering a mask over my face and telling me to breathe deeply. I disappeared into nothingness, but in an instant, I was swimming back, wide awake and drowning. The pain was searing, and I was unprepared for the burn. I found out later the surgery had been difficult, but successful.

Pain. Four letters, one syllable. It’s really not a big enough word.

I’d been in the void for just over two hours, and that retreat was okay. Death doesn’t scare me. It’s the dying part that kills you. Why me? I thought. This should be happening to my many, many enemies.

“The morphine will kick in soon, but I can’t give you too much at once, or you’ll stop breathing. My job is to keep you breathing.” That was Laura, my post-op nurse and shepherd back to the land of the living. As the pain subsided, my sense of humor returned. Laura was great. I was going to be great. It was going to work out. But it’s been harder than I’d hoped.

I anticipated most post-op issues. My main problem is sleep. I can’t get enough of it, and I must sleep on my back for six weeks. The sedatives help a bit. At least I’m not watching reruns of Kung Fu at 3 a.m. anymore. I’m bingeing Justified and Fresh Off the Boat, but that’s a daytime distraction while I perform my remedial exercises. I’m off the narcotics, but I must admit arthritis really fucked me up. I’m feeling old and useless. You don’t fight a disease like this. That’s the wrong metaphor. Instead, I’m hobbling away from it. Using a walker and a cane, I’m putting distance from Decrepit Me. I’m nostalgic for the days when I could kick opponents in the jaw, but eventually I’ll walk normally. Surgery makes a pretty X-ray. Activity makes it a moving picture. I’m looking forward to returning to boxing.

Rehab is a full-time job.

My surgeon performed the vivisection and engineering expertly. I am a cyborg, renewed by titanium, cobalt, and polyethylene. My physiotherapist is endlessly encouraging. She sees a stationary bike in my near future. Though my progress is incremental, I’m retraining my body and improving daily. We set up a recovery room with assistive devices at home. My wife, She Who Must Be Obeyed, is a doctor. However, through this ordeal, she’s been doing double duty as my nurse. She’s also proved herself a saint.

That first twenty minutes haunts me, though.

I dwell on my mortality too much. My sense of time is still messed up. I’m morbid and more emotional than usual. I didn’t have claustrophobia before. Getting tangled in the sheets triggers me now. A week after surgery, I felt panic mount as it took me too long to find the neck hole in a hoodie. Even as I dismissed the problem as ridiculous, my lizard brain was fired up and ready to flail. Sometimes it feels like there isn’t enough oxygen in the room.

There are many milestones on the Comeback Trail, and I am not a patient patient. Anxiety and depression are common after major surgery, and I had those issues even before I went under the buzz saw. Last week I wrote my first work email, details on a book doctoring job. Typing up a few paragraphs of instructions wiped me out for the day.

I hope to get back to writing my next novel soon, but I had my first shower since the surgery only yesterday. I still want to record my audiobooks, but that’s a little further down the Comeback Trail just now. I must stop for the night. Darkness comes for us all, and I am waiting for the dawn. My surgery date was March 31. This post is the most I’ve written since March 30.

~ I am the cyborg writer of award-winning science fiction and killer crime thrillers. Find all books by Robert Chazz Chute on my author site, AllThatChazz.com.

Filed under: publishing, writing, arthritis, books, hip replacement, hip replacement surgery, osteoarthritis, publishing, recovery from hip replacement, Robert Chazz Chute, writer, writing

02/15/2023 • 9:46 AM 11

The Truth Will Get Out

My novel, Endemic, had a tough launch. To put it simply, Amazon screwed me over, and truthfully, that disappointment set me back quite a bit both financially and creatively. I haven’t been nearly as productive since. However, I am not reiterating or relitigating the past today. Today, I have something to celebrate.

The book has since won a Literary Titan Award and took first place in science fiction at both the Hollywood Book Fesitval and the New York Book Festival.

And now, another win!

The North Street Book Prize just announced the winners and Endemic took first in genre fiction! That’s a big one. Taste all that delicious validation!

Here’s the North Street Book Prize blurb for Endemic:

Genre Fiction winner Robert Chazz Chute’s Endemic gives the post-apocalyptic plague novel a fresh twist with a neurodivergent female book editor as an unlikely action hero. New York City is in ruins after a strange disease caused brain damage among most of the population. Can Ovid Fairweather save the day with her hydroponic gardening skills and hypervigilance from an abusive childhood? Count on it.

If you’ve encountered marketing obstacles (and who hasn’t?) persevere and be patient. The truth will get out. Your work can find an audience, even if it doesn’t happen right away.

I was disappointed. I retreated. I felt bad for a long time, but I am not done.

~ I am Robert Chazz Chute. Find links to all my apocalyptic epics and killer crime thrillers at my author site, AllThatChazz.com.

Filed under: awards, Endemic, publishing, award-winning books, books, Endemic, Hollywood Book Festival, keep writing, Literary Titan Award, New York Book Festival, North Street Book Prize, publishing, Robert Chazz Chute, science fiction novels, self-publishing, writer, writing

08/07/2022 • 11:14 AM 2

Are book contests for you?

Yesterday I announced that my trope-defying, apocalyptic sci-fi epic Endemic won two awards. That brings me up to ten writing awards in my lifetime, but let’s take a beat to evaluate whether writers should submit their work hoping for awards. It’s not for everybody all the time. Is anything? (Quick answer: definitely not.)

First book contest caveat

It depends on your goals and what stage of the writing life you’re in. I won my first couple of awards when I was still in high school. I started building a track record early, writing for the school newspaper and for my hometown paper. Back then, it was about two things. Money was a big motivator. I was a teenager. Of course, I wanted money. Second, winning those awards early on lifted my confidence. I was on track to fulfill my dream of becoming a full-time writer. Those awards undoubtedly helped my university application to get into journalism school, too. Getting positive feedback is very important to the budding writer. We’re sensitive hothouse flowers that need tending as we grow.

Later on, I graduated to writing a bit of non-fiction and more and more short stories. Short stories are a great way of developing a concise writing style. Turning plot developments on a dime is a learned skill and writing short can get you there. Feedback from a solid editor is best, but when you don’t have that resource, getting feedback from judges could be the next best thing. Again, money can be motivating. When I won $1,200 from the Toronto Star, it was a big win, but frankly, I needed the money badly. If you write for a living, I guess, teen or not, that yearning doesn’t go away. This is a tough business. I was underemployed and that $1,200 went toward fixing our crumbling chimney.

By the time I started writing longer fiction, my interest in sending in short story entries to Writer’s Digest had waned a bit. However, it’s a good thing that urge didn’t go away completely because I made a judicious choice in sending in one entry. That got This Plague of Days an honorable mention which I’m sure continues to help sell the book years later.

This year, my main motivation to enter book contests was frustration. Amazon screwed up my launch of Endemic, so I felt sabotaged from the start. Finding no success in advertising my wares, I tried paying someone else to do it right. Surely someone who’s a pro could make Amazon ads work where I failed. Nope! They couldn’t move the needle either. I had a free trial of Book Award Pro going and that got me thinking. I was confident I had a great book in Endemic, but I needed a different way to garner some attention. I needed more social proof and a workaround. Book contests? Why not? I’d tried everything else and was unsatisfied with the results. Whether it’s Facebook ads or Amazon ads, my sales seem to remain entirely organic.

Here’s the major reason you shouldn’t enter book contests

Money, as in not enough of it. If your budget is low and you have any doubts about your work, hold off until you’re confident about your entry and there’s money to spare. Entering a book you love still won’t guarantee success, of course. Book contests are a subjective endeavor and have more in common with playing the lottery than they do advertising. I don’t ordinarily submit to book contests because the cost is often prohibitive. However, I got some book doctoring work that allowed me some room in my promotions budget and I allocated some advertising funds to competition fees. Like my dad said about the stock market, only play if you’ve got gambling money. Don’t play with the grocery money.

Also, let’s face it: Some contests don’t pass the smell test.

There are scams out there that only serve to make money for the contest runners and do not benefit authors at all. Even if a contest is legit, the cost of entry may not be worth the benefit to you. There may be no benefit. It’s a competition with a lot of players. Odds are definitely against getting an award you can use as a sales tool.

What are the sales tools, you may ask? You can blog it, advertise it, promote it, alert the media, get stickers (digital and other), and announce the win in your sales copy and newsletter. After that, it’s the long-tail waiting game. (Also, those stickers and added doodads will cost you unless you make your own. If you do make your own, don’t step on the contest runner’s trademark.)

Not all contests are created equal

This morning I checked out a book contest that had a nice name that sounded impressive. I had a peek and discovered the organizers offered an ongoing competition in a vast array of categories. Too many categories. If you’re going for a Hugo or a Bram Stoker Award, those contests are in specific genres with a lot of competition so they’re more prestigious and carry more weight in the social proof department.

Please note: Even some big long-standing competitions have lost their shine due to internecine warfare. Research whatever competition you enter, not only to determine its value, but to decide if it fits with your values.

Another helpful measure

Look up past award winners. I checked out an award winner from a previous year. His book was still stuck at four reviews. There can be many reasons and variables for that to occur, but it made me think the contest was not worth the $100US entry fee. I did not succumb to the siren song of their seductive advertising copy.

If your goal is to sell more books, leveraging a book award win can be difficult. Despite winning two awards in the past two weeks, Endemic’s sales numbers have not shot up. The effect of the prestige of those wins will have to be long term (as it was with This Plague of Days). That’s my hope. In the meantime, it feels good to get some recognition for my work. I’m currently in unrelenting pain awaiting a double hip replacement. I can’t wait to become a pain-free cyborg, so while I wait, I’ll take feeling good however I can get it. There’s another big contest on the horizon, and I’m watching my email because the next win might be a game changer. Fingers crossed.

See what the fuss is all about here.

~ Check out all my apocalyptic epics and killer crime thrillers on my author site, AllThatChazz.com.

Filed under: awards, book awards, book contests, books, publishing, Robert Chazz Chute, writer, writing

05/08/2022 • 1:21 PM 2

10 Myths of Publishing

There are myths writers are told and sold. Let’s tackle them:

Myth: Follow the various book proposal guidelines for each and every agent to the letter.

Reality: That’s a waste of time, equivalent to the old days when magazines insisted they refused simultaneous submissions and then took a year to get back to you. Instead of tailoring your book proposal to 158 different individuals, make one really good book proposal and send it out. If it’s good enough and looks profitable, they will respond. If they’re so capricious they value protocol over profit, they wouldn’t have accepted your book proposal in any case. There. Saved you time and aggravation. Be professional, but treat them like peers. Don’t be a desperate supplicant. You’re better than that.
Myth: Publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Reality: A bunch of publishers, in confidence, will admit they read everything from the slush pile. Scared of rejecting the next Harry Potter, I guess. You can submit directly to publishers without going through an agent. You may be thinking that doing so decreases your odds of success. That feeling will ease when you consider that agents may take on one or two new clients in an entire year. Sure, agents know acquisitions editors, but you’ve also added another gatekeeper and speedbump to your publishing journey.
Myth: You need an agent to sell your book.

Reality: If you are doing a deal with a publisher, the publisher may recommend their favorite agent to you. You may want an agent, but it’s optional. Better? An entertainment (AKA intellectual property lawyer). One fee, no percentage that lasts forever. There seem to be fewer agents than there used to be. It’s not that they are useless, but a bunch of them sure were. (And rude, to boot.) If you are going to deal with an agent, read their blogs, tweets, and reviews from other authors.
Myth: A traditional publisher will take care of the marketing of my book.

Reality: Very briefly, and only if your book has a high profit potential. You will have the attention of the Promotions Department for a very short time before they move on. After that, it’s pretty much all up to you. They want you to have your own website, a bunch of followers and engagement on social media, etc. Big promotional budgets push big authors to make them bigger, not to lesser-known authors to take a blind stab at minimal profit.
Myth: I suck at book marketing, so I’ll simply outsource all of that ballyhoo to someone else.

Reality: If you have a big bag of money, this can work. Advertising is expensive and requires experimentation and data. Getting someone else to do it for you, someone who knows how to do it well, will cost you in a big way. Most books don’t make enough to justify that kind of outlay on spec. Instead, you’re probably going to have to learn how to do that shit you don’t want to do all by your lonesome.
Myth: To write in any genre, you must be familiar with many books in the same genre. Don’t write in a genre you don’t read!

Reality: If you read a few of the best-loved books that are on point for the genre, you’re on the right track. No need to go so deep you put off writing your books forever. Yes, romance readers will be furious if your protagonists don’t get their happily ever after. But you knew that after reading one or two samples. What’s more important is that you grasp the essentials of storytelling. If you understand narrative structure and dramatic tension, you’re most of the way there already. Good stories are good stories. Don’t listen to the gatekeepers who insist you’re not qualified until you fulfill their ridiculously long list of arbitrary essentials.
Myth: Write what you know.

Reality: Write what you care about. If we only wrote what we knew, the field of science fiction wouldn’t be a field. It would be a small patch of bare dirt.
Myth: Readers demand happy endings.

Reality: Readers don’t know what they want until you give it to them. I like surprising endings, but conclusions need to be logical and, in retrospect, inevitable. Give them a happy ending if it fits your worldview and the story. I don’t necessarily do happy endings every time, but I always strive to provide a satisfying ending. Don’t try to shove a square peg into a radiator. (See? Surprise!)
Myth: If an agent or publisher contacts me, I’ll accept that deal. Where do I sign? I’m on my way!

Reality: I was contacted by an agent and a publisher. Then…crickets. Proposals don’t just go through people. They go through committees. An accountant may be blocking your route to publication. That breeze filling your sails might be pushing you onto the rocks. It’s not a done deal until you sign on the dotted line. Agents and publishers may express interest, but that doesn’t mean anything until it really means something.
Myth: A publisher is a publisher.

Reality: They aren’t all created equal. Some masquerade as publishers, but they’re really vanity presses. Some may call themselves publishers when, in fact, they’re in the book formatting and uploading business. Also, sad to say, you as an author are not guaranteed better treatment by either a large or small press. Integrity, attention to detail, and follow-through depend on the people you’re dealing with, not the size of the firm. Before you commit, read reviews of the company. Cautionary tales abound.

Bonus: If it’s transparency you’re looking for, nothing beats getting daily sales numbers. That data is what you get when you publish your stuff independently.

~ Recently, I wrote 31 Ways We All Fall Down. It’s more advice to writers. Check it out on my author site, AllThatChazz.com.

Bullied her whole life, Ovid Fairweather is a book nerd trapped in an apocalyptic New York. With only her dead therapist to guide her, this survivor will become a queen.
READ ENDEMIC NOW TO DISCOVER THE POWER OF YOUR CURSE

Filed under: publishing, agents and publishers, Endemic, Endemic by Robert Chazz Chute, publishing, Robert Chazz Chute, self-publishing, writer, writers, writing

03/06/2022 • 12:21 PM 2

What We Don’t Know

Have you gathered all your tax receipts yet? I recorded all my expenditures as I made them in 2021, so this should be the easiest tax prep yet. Last year, we had to chase our accountant to do his job, but that’s a long story about frustration. Short story: We’re getting a new accountant.

Today’s brief post isn’t really about taxes. It’s about what we don’t know. I’ve always used an accountant because tax law is far too complicated (by design, depending on where you live). For instance, I don’t know what the latest mileage allowance is. I could look it up, but what about the deductions or pitfalls I might miss? Hiring a professional eases my mind because I don’t know what I don’t know. There’s no shame in ignorance as long as you learn or compensate.

We don’t know what we don’t know.

When you’re outsourcing work for your writing business, keep that adage in mind. My editor is far more versed in the many subtle nuances of comma placement. She’s taught me a few things (which I promptly forgot). Instead of trying to know everything, I rely on her encyclopedic knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style. She knows her stuff inside and out and having her on my side eases my stress.

(FYI: Looking for a great editor? Email Gari at editor@strawnediting.com.)

It’s a popular (and damaging) myth that self-publishers do it all themselves. For many of us, our editorial pipeline resembles what you might expect of a traditional publisher. With the use of beta reading teams, some authors’ editorial process is superior to trad pubs. This is especially true after all the cuts to editorial budgets among traditional publishers.

Some readers and writers are stuck in the inertia of old biases. Detecting our own ignorance is the beginning of wisdom.

What work do you outsource?

~ I’m Robert Chazz Chute. I write apocalyptic epics with heart and killer crime thrillers with muscle. Find links to all my books at AllThatChazz.com.

Filed under: publishing, books, editing, editors, how to find a good editor, outsourcing, publishing, publishing process, Robert Chazz Chute, self-publishing, writer, writing

11/19/2021 • 7:02 PM 0

Writing Easy, Advertising Hard

Authors, be especially careful with advertising your books at this time. It’s the Christmas season, so every writer, particularly those with deep pockets, is flogging their wares. I was about to put up another Amazon ad for my latest book. Then I looked at the suggested bids and, boy howdy, I was discouraged from even running that experiment. The suggested bids were simply too high. You don’t have to go with the suggested bids, of course. However, cut down too much and your ad will be invisible.

Depending on the popularity of your genre, you may find it takes way too much money to

(a) get your ad delivered at all, and

(b) make a profit on the sale.

Watch your math and consider saving your advertising dollars for the new year rather than competing head to head with Big Trad.

I have changed my advertising strategy and returned to experiments with to Facebook. My experience with Facebook was that they can burn through your advertising budget very quickly.

Please keep in mind, no advertising strategy is safe enough to gamble on set it and forget it.

However, I do like the granular targeting I can do with Facebook. With a keen eye for monitoring the ad spend, I’m hoping to find new readers for Endemic.

UNIVERSAL LINK TO YOUR AMAZON STORE:
mybook.to/MakeEndemicGoViral

What happens if the pandemic never ends?

~ I’m Robert Chazz Chute. Check out all my apocalyptic epics and killer crime thrillers on my author site, AllThatChazz.com.

Filed under: publishing, amazon ads, AMS ads, Facebook ads, facebook advertising, how to advertise books, how to advertise your book, publishing, Robert Chazz Chute, self-publishing, writer, writing

11/12/2021 • 3:16 PM 0

NaNoWriMo is not a bad thing

NaNoWriMo is a good thing.

We’re coming up on the halfway point of November already (which scares the rabbit pellets out of me because Christmas is coming fast. I wasn’t going to do National Novel Writing Month this year, but changed my mind at the last moment. I enjoy their metrics and I’m a little ahead of the pace so everything is chunky hunky.

Some authors are down on NaNoWriMo, but I have to say their arguments against it are often made of straw and soggy bran cereal. It’s not just for novices who’ve always dreamed of writing a book. I write every day anyway. That doesn’t mean NaNo doesn’t give me a boost. A little friendly competition can get me started earlier and makes me write a bit longer than I might have otherwise. 2479 words last night!

NaNo is so big, sure, there are inevitably a few people in the mix who think they should fire their first draft off to an agent. However, most people are sane. The vast majority won’t commit that sin. NaNo doesn’t encourage that kind of slapdash approach, either, so ease off of those worries and enjoy a chocolate chip cookie.

Some question the word count. Why 50,000 words? Isn’t that too short for a novel? It didn’t used to be. Those word count conventions are a bit dated considering that the numbers are less of a factor with ebooks. More to the point, the originators of NaNoWriMo chose 50,000 words as a suitable goal for good reasons. It’s not too short for veterans nor too long for first-timers. It also happens to be the approximate word count for The Great Gatsby.

There’s a little Apocalypse Now energy around NaNo that I find helpful. I’m Martin Sheen at the beginning of the movie whispering, “Every minute I’m in this hotel room I get weaker. Every minute Charlie is out in the jungle he gets stronger.” Then I break a mirror because someone out there somewhere is writing.

Then I write.

~ The newest novel from Robert Chazz Chute is Endemic. Highly sensitive, bookish, and alone, Ovid Fairweather is bullied by her father, haunted by her dead therapist, and trapped in the viral apocalypse.

Get Endemic now. It’s about to go viral.

Filed under: NanNoWriMo, writing, books, books by Robert Chazz Chute, how do I get started writing, how to write books, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo tips, Our Zombie Hours, Robert Chazz Chute, writer, writing

11/05/2021 • 6:42 PM 1

Fans are Sexy

Unless you write as a hobby, authors need fans. Not just casual readers. Fans. Here are the 5Ws of getting sexy.

The Why

Authors need reviews as social proof in order to gain more readers.
Promotional sites often require a minimum number of reviews and/or a minimum rating before we can advertise on those platforms to find more readers.
When we’re feeling down and hopeless, it’s the fans that bring us back up and get us writing again.

The What

Buy our art so we can make more art. Poverty and hunger pangs distracts us from our mission. (Also please be aware, pirate sites give your devices cancer and infect your soul with incurable scabies.)
Tell other readers about your favorite authors. Word of mouth makes our kung fu strong.
Please review our books.
Stock up on our books for Christmas gifts.
Let your favorite author know you’re rooting for them. A quick email or tweet will make their day. This is a tough business, and some of us are prone to anxiety and depression. (Stares hard.)

The Where

Review what you love wherever you bought the book. Seek out that “Write a Review” button. It’s on the book’s sales page somewhere.
Tell your local bookstore you want to order your favorite author’s book.
Tell your librarian the same.
Tell your friends down at the ole swimmin’ hole, during a bank heist, at the golf course, and on Zoom.
Suggest books to your enemies with the passive aggressive message that reading more will contribute to their personal growth and increase their capacity for empathy. Those bastards probably won’t take your recommendation, but you can walk away feeling good about that sick burn.
Share your reviews and book recommendations on social media.

The Who

You, if you’re a reader and you like art someone produced.
If you’re an author reading this, I get it. You’re too humble. You’re self-conscious about asking for help. Your Dad, who loves David Baldacci books, isn’t keen on your thrillers, and hates your horror and science fiction. It’s okay. The people who support you understand you need to keep writing and buy groceries. Ask for help.
Dad, if you’re reading this, I won’t be sending you my latest apocalyptic novel for Christmas. A David Baldacci book is on the way. Never mind, go back to listening to Lawrence Welk. And no, we won’t be talking about this.*

*Okay, #2 and #3 of this section might involve some…ahem…projection.

The When

No time like the present.
See #1.
The Rule of 3 compels me to add #3. (Also, it should be CDO because OCD is in the wrong order.)

BONUS: What Fans Receive in Return

Writers give you their dreams for a small price and, by spreading the love, you help them fulfill their dreams. Priceless.
You might get more books from that author or more books in a series you enjoy. If there aren’t enough sales and/or reviews on a series, the ROI isn’t there so chances are solid said series could die on the vine.
The joy of helping other readers discover something they might love. Recommending books feels good.
The fun of having someone share the experience of the book. Then you’ll have a fellow reader with whom you can discuss the book.
Being the sort of person who reads and recommends books makes you look smarter. It’s more powerful than the nerdiest of nerd glasses and you will instantly become 87% sexier. 87%! That’s just science.
In reading our pithy, funny amazing novels, you will find jokes you can later pass off as your own in casual conversation.
You will earn our eternal gratitude, and who doesn’t want the warm fuzzies from a group of maniacs who sit around all day fantasizing about new and clever ways to get away with murder?

EDIT: The police inform me that #7 came off as more threatening than I intended. So…hey! Eternal gratitude! You got it!