Robert Young

Book signings are those curious events that can buoy your spirits, drop you to the depths of despair, or just leave you wondering. Last weekend I did an event at the Gilbert House in Salem. What an appropriate place to sign books about A.C. Gilbert, who spent his early years there. There were a sprinkling of kids (mainly preschoolers) and parents that came around, and I had many interactions during my two hours there, but one stands out.

A middle-aged woman, wearing graying hair and a jeans jacket, sidled up to the table where I sat. I told her a little about the book, what it’s about and how I came to write it. The woman picked up the book, examined the cover, then opened it up and began reading it to herself. No skimming it, or paging through and scanning. She read it, every page of it.

As she read, I sat there uncomfortably, much like at a garage sale where someone is examining one of my prized (although I’m willing to sell it) possessions. But a book – my book – is harder. It is not merely a possession; it’s a creation. My creation, from start to finish.

After what seemed like a month, the woman finished reading, closed the book, and set it back on the table. What was she thinking:

“Gawd, what a boring book!”

“I could have written this myself.”

“I already read it, so why buy it now?”

Patiently, I waited for a critique, a comment, a question. But, I got none. The woman just turned and walked away. What did she think of the book? I’ll never know.

So it goes at book signings.

It’s so easy to find reasons NOT to write. There’s work and there’s work around the house and there’s work in the yard. Lately, the challenge for me has been work, where we’re in the midst of developing a federal grant proposal around history education. Although we have experience with this, it still takes much mental energy to put together a program it and to budget it correctly. And, to do it in a timely manner. Fortunately, I’m working as part of at team of smart and experienced people.

Our proposal is due this week. We’re in fairly good shape at this point, but the week will be spent editing, revising, and making sure the terms are consistent and the narrative matches the budget. It reminds me of writing a novel, where consistency is essential. I don’t have a great amount of experience in that genre, but with the novel I did write some years back (still unpublished), it really helped to create character charts complete with personal and physical traits of each major character. I also created a map of the town where the story took place, and referred to it often as I wrote.  As we finish up this grant, I have made a master list of terms used and I keep it on-hand as I review the text. It’s working quite well.

Despite the excuse of the grant, I continue to work on my writing each day and I’m hoping my number of writing days this month will exceed last month’s. One week to go in March, so we’ll see…

Everybody and his brother (and sister) has advice for authors. Especially other authors (and their brothers and sisters). Came across this list from author Seth Godin the other day. The list is long, but will promote thinking.  Check it out at  http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2006/08/advice_for_auth.html

Enjoy!  Then make up your own list…

So, the venerable James Lewis gave me a newsletter containing an article on self-publishing written by Linda Nowak, an author and partner in Puddletown Publishing Group, a new e-book press.  In her article, Linda cites stats about e-books: Two years ago e-book sales were 1/2 of 1% of all book sales. Last year, that percentage catapulted to 33% of all book sales!

Somethin’s happenin’ here, and what it is, is pretty clear. The question then becomes, how do we make the most of that reality as we proceed with our writing projects?

Thanks Jim!

I told you about the “writing chain” I’ve been using to help focus my many energies. Now that the month is over, I can look at my calender and have a visual reminder of the days I worked. I can also see the days I didn’t (yes, there were some), and see if there are patterns (yes, there are some). One important thing I noticed doing this: I am more productive and more focused on the project on which I’m working. Here, take a look:

Do you ever feel like you’re doing everything BUT writing? You know, researching, reading, sending queries, answering mail, following writing blogs? It’s easy to have writing time slip away, especially if you have a full-time job doing something else. And, since those activities are writing-related, it’s easy to justify doing them. But, what about the pencil to the paper / fingers to the keyboard writing that you must do if you’re going to call yourself a writer?

I read about this idea about making your writing efforts transparent. Jerry Seinfeld uses it, not that that necessarily makes it a “stairway to success.” The idea is simple: find a calender, set a daily writing goal in minutes/hours/seconds even. Then, if you writing for at least that amount of time, you mark the square with a big X. I’m starting modestly, an hour a day, and I’m using a bright green marker.

What you try to do is to create a chain of connected Xs.  I’ve been trying this since February began and, although I haven’t been perfect, I know I’m doing more writing than I did before. I like the visual aspect, and I don’t like “breaking the chain.”

Give it a try! When the month’s over I’ll  post a picture of my green chain. Oh no, public viewing.  Pressure!