Adapting a Lifelong Dream

This is one of my longest breaks between blog posts during my nine years of blogging. For some weeks now I've been feeling reluctant to dish out another opinion when the online world seems so saturated with them. Even Twitter, which forced people to be concise, has upped its word count from 140 to 280.

Not wanting to bore you with unenlightened views about things I'm no expert in, I took to doodling with sharpie pens instead. My new hobby explains my latest blog header which I fear makes me look like a kids' author! (I'll bash out another one more in keeping with my novels at some point.)

Although I haven't been blogging, I do write every day. The dream of making a living from writing did quietly come true thanks in part to being a big fish (published, bilingual author) in a small pond (Mallorca). I'm currently working on a What's On guide for abcMallorca, which hopefully means I'll stop staring blankly at people when they ask me for recommendations on what to do on the island! 

The title of the blog refers to my childhood dream of becoming a published author with an agent and a traditional publisher. To cut a long story short, I did get all that and at the time it was so thrilling. Yet, as I explained in my interview with Paul Teague of Self-Publishing Journeys podcast, in the end this dream really was a huge disappointment that has taken me a while to come to terms with.  

I was so eager to be published that I accepted not being paid any money for the books upfront. I assumed I'd make money because such a big company was bound to sell thousands. But the big publisher did minimal marketing and low royalties meant that two years of work for two books barely earned me enough to pay a month's rent.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results... So this summer I published The Hen Party under my own brand Little Cactus. To date the book has sold more in three months than my traditionally published books did in a year. 

The experience proved to me what I could achieve if I invested time and money into not only creating a good book, but into advertising and promotion. A number of local publications featured the The Hen Party and although it's difficult to get reviews, the ones so far have been very positive. I have to thank all my readers who trust I can write and couldn't care less who publishes my books!

Knowing I could succeed independently made me desperate to recuperate my rights for my other novels, The Temp and #PleaseRetweet, and relaunch them with better covers, and in the case of The Temp, with the original title Spray Painted Bananas, which was so successful on Wattpad.  

For a time it looked like the publisher weren't going to give me my rights back. As long as the books made 100 pounds a year they could keep them. Rarely have I felt so furious. I would find myself awake in the early hours composing angry emails. How dare they prevent me from earning a living from books that I had worked so hard on?

That rage has since passed. I said what needed to be said. Next April, I'll get my rights back for both novels and I will release them with new branding and covers that more faithfully reflect my style of writing and myself as an author.

It has been a period of limbo... but I'm finally coming out the other side. I could write a letter to my younger self advising her not to be blinded by the traditional dream, but in the end I know I would do it all again, because my dream was so strong.  

If I don't make The Sunday Times Bestseller list, win a literary award, or have my books in Waterstones, then so be it. What matters to me now has become quite simple. I want to write great books which satisfy my readers, earn a decent wage for my work and enjoy the creative process from beginning to end. 

  

Fancy a Social Media Workshop for Writers in Mallorca?

Since moving to Mallorca I've been a bit in the shadows. Not literally but literary-ly.

In London, I attended literary festivals and writing events. I was a regular speaker and ran my own blogging and social media workshops for writers and other creatives.

I gave it all up when I moved, choosing to dedicate my time to fiction and journalism. But recently I've started to wonder about doing workshops again, here.   

On Tuesday I went to the 5th anniversary of a local book shop, Universal Bookshop. I was invited by the very welcoming and enthusiastic owner, Kay Halley, who called the event An Audience with Authors.  

Anna Nicholas launching A Chorus of Cockerels
last year at Universal Bookshop

It was really great to meet other writers and catch up with Anna Nicholas, who has written a series of books about life on the island. We'd talked about setting up writing workshops months ago over lunch but hadn't progressed further than scribbles on a page.

The idea of running social media workshops reared its head again, as I talked to other writers. One author was impressed that I had a traditional publisher.

"Ah, you're lucky," she said. "They do all the marketing for you."

This is definitely a common misconception. Perhaps once upon a time, authors were expected to just write the books and leave the marketing to the publishers. But gone is that time, if it did really exist. 

Whether traditionally published or self-published, writers must promote their books if they want to sell more than a couple of copies to family members.

"Tell me about blogging," she said, when I told her that in fact, that wasn't the case.  

Where to start? If only I had a couple of hours and my slides with me. I really should do a workshop, I thought.

"Do a workshop!" another writer urged, as I tried to impart everything I'd ever learned and she scribbled furiously into her notebok.

Giving advice to lovely Laura Provost,
who has written a children's book!

It struck me that there might be a good handful of writers and creatives out there who might be interested in a workshop about setting up an online presence and growing their audience.

SO:

If you are interested in workshops on social media and marketing for creatives, based in Mallorca, don't hesitate to get in touch at emily@emilybenet.com 

Alternatively sign up to my newsletter, where I'll post related news:

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5 Tips for Staying Productive and Motivated when Working from Home

Whenever my husband has to travel for work I always tell myself it's an opportunity to do great things. I visualise myself working late into the night on new books and swapping Netflix for writing extra blogs and raising my author profile. The reality is, with so much time suddenly available, after a week I find myself struggling to get out of bed.

I think back to writing my debut book Shop Girl Diaries. I had a full-time job and I would get up early to fit in some words before work or sacrifice evenings out to bash out a chapter. Look how much time you have now, I scold myself, why aren't you doing more with it?

Sometimes I wish I had a boss ordering me to do things, instead of having to coax myself through my to-do list. Is my list even right? Am I sure I'm taking the right steps? 

But that wish to have a boss is very fleeting and hollow indeed.

I'm starting to realise there are strategies available to keeping my energy up and motivation alive while working from home alone. With a bit of imagination, I think you'll find they don't just apply to writers either!

1.  Work in Short Stints - I find using a basic online timer really focuses me. For editing work I'll set it for 45-60 minutes and work continuously until it goes off. I'll have a five minute break, perhaps a cup of tea, and then I'll set it again. For new writing, I might set my timer to just 20 minutes. The timer is currently running now... I won't feel like a failure if it goes off, it's just a device to keep me concentrated on the job at hand. While the timer is running there's less inclination to scroll through your phone. Some people find they produce a lot more work in three twenty minute stints than they do in an long hour.  

2. Alternate Between Jobs - after two hours of editing, my head feels fuzzy and I start overlooking errors in the text. Instead of wrestling with a job, it makes much more sense to approach another. The energy you thought was depleted nearly always arises when you switch to a new task. For me, it may be blogging, writing or research. It might also be to putting the washing away or scraping mould off the walls caused by humidity! (Sob.) I know some people feel a need to separate  housework from their other work, but I find a domestic chore a great palate cleanser.

3. Learn Something New About Your Industry - sometimes  my well of creativity seems completely empty and I can't seem to create anything.  I've discovered that when this happens learning something new about your industry or craft might well fire you up. There is so much juicy information online and wonderful opportunities for self-improvement. 

For writing and marketing I turn to the Creative Penn Podcast or I might watch a lively webinar with author and marketeer Nick Stephenson. For insight into non-writing matters and for inspiration, I'll watch a short TED talk. After listening to an animated, encouraging voice I always feel a fresh burst of energy. If you think you have no time, perhaps you should watch Laura Vanderkam's talk How to Gain Control of Your Free Time. She argues it's not about not having enough time but about not making something a priority!

4. Read - this one is particularly for the writers out there. I didn't used to read as much as I do now. I used to think, I want to write books, not read them!  Now I think that's a ridiculous thing to say. Reading reminds me why I want to write in the first place. Coming across great lines in a book fills me with admiration for the craft. I read for pleasure but I also read to learn about structure and plot, what makes good characters and dialogue. If I love a book, I'll go through it, jotting down details about how it is done. I no longer think reading is a distraction from the job, but a part of the job. Scheduling some reading time could provide the inspiration needed for your next task.

5. Allow for Thinking Time - I've left my latest novel to breathe a few days before I send it back to my agent. In the meantime I find myself panicking over what to write next. I thought I had a half decent plot but my fingers were very reluctant to type Chapter 1. Did that mean it was a bad idea? More likely it was the result of not thinking about it for long enough. 

I find that until I stop and let myself DO NOTHING, the ideas can't come in. Yesterday, while washing up, an important plot twist came to me. Aha, I thought, and immediately regretted sending the half developed synopsis to my agent. Sometimes  you need to stop everything before you can move forward. Allowing time to just be might be the answer to that sticky problem.  

Deadlines and needing to pay the rent are often motivation enough, but sometimes staying fired up requires a few changes to the routine!

For daily updates, find me on Facebook/EmilyBenetAuthor 

Writing and Money: The Reality is...

The First Book! Is it the One?

Self-pity is so unattractive. When I feel a dollop of the stuff, I get very annoyed with myself. Even more so with the world in the state it's in, and poor little me living in paradise* (*Mallorca) with a roof over my head and my belly full. But bear with me, because if you're a writer too you might recognise what I'm feeling.

The thing is I thought that once you'd written three books you'd be making money from writing books. Alas, far from it. The reality is, the time involved in writing and selling the books, and how much you make from each book and the quantities you're likely to sell, mean that it's more like a very expensive hobby.

When I feel demoralised like this,  I turn to my favourite podcast The Creative Penn. It's a podcast in which self-publishing guru, Joanna Penn, interviews other writers with entrepreneurial spirits like hers who have worked their socks off and now make a comfortable living from their writing 'business'.

Listening to them blows me away. These people are machines. They don't write one book a year like traditional authors tend to, but raise the bar to four books, five, even six books a year. They're full-time writers setting big goals each day and achieving them. I don't know how they do it. Are these books ten pages long? No, they're full-length novel. Are they terrible quality? Put it this way, they're good enough to have attracted lots of loyal readers! 

Today, listening to the interview with  Russell Blake, I found myself hearing exactly the message I needed to hear. Artists have always had lousy odds of success, that's how it is, and the best thing is not to have great expectation. His advice? Work really hard! 

"I have friends that write in the movie industry and in TV and I have friends who have been professional musicians and make good livings at it and they all say the same thing. They all work their asses off, they work long hours, and they all say it’s not rocket science." - Russell Blake

The amount of books that need to be written in order to make a living out of writing books is a point that has been made time and again on The Creative Penn podcast. You can't earn a living from one stand alone book. Yet most of us writers dream of just that. It's what Blake refers to as 'magical thinking'.

I'm guilty of tons of magical thinking - and before you start with the 'but what about JK?' - we never get to see all the books and all the work these famous authors did before they finally got their big deal.

Some people spend years polishing that one book, getting excited when they get a book deal (a book deal doesn't necessarily mean getting money upfront - I have yet to be paid an advance!), and then they inevitably feel disappointment when it doesn't sell as well as they fantasised it would. Because the odds are a new writer only sells a couple of hundred books, of which they make less than a pound a book, which means earning a couple of hundred pounds for a year's work! Crazy, right?

It makes so much sense that you're not going to make money from one book. I was brought up in a shop and my Dad was always obsessed with increasing our stock. The more stock you have the more likely you'll sell. Having one book to sell is like having, well, a book shop with one book in it. If you sell ten books in a day, congratulations, you've made £10.00, you'll be able to pay for lunch and the bus home.  

Basically, if we want to make money from writing novels, then we've got to forget about writing one novel, and think long term. Think 8 novels. If you can write a series, then lucky you. I'm still not sure I could write a series...and besides the other message writers leave on the podcast is, you've got to write what you would want to read!

Instead of complaining about how hard it is, I think I had better knuckle down and get on with stocking up my book shop, don't you?

Thank you for reading!  

My books shop is small but please feel free to browse. 

Results: 1 Week Social Media Detox

I thought it would be really tough. I deleted the apps from my phone to avoid temptation. It helped that once I'd blogged about giving up Facebook and Twitter for a week, I couldn't sneakily go on them or everyone would have known! 

Day 1 - Social Life

So used to scrolling through my social networks , I found myself with a phone in my hand and not sure what to do with it. I turned to WhatsApp and got in touch with an Argentine girl I'd met here in Mallorca, suggesting a drink one day this week. She replied, "Tomorrow?"  So often in London you'd have to book a date with your friends weeks in advance, so I was very excited about the spontaneous meeting with a new friend.  

Day 2 - Battery Life

The drink with my friend morphed into a lively dinner at her flat, as her Argentine flat mate was cooking Matambre a la Pizza. I stayed in the spare room as buses had stopped running. Since I hadn't been checking my phone all day, I had plenty of battery left to set an early morning alarm and check my emails. 

Day 3 - Brain Retraining

Despite not checking Twitter, my brain kept automatically composing tweets about what I was doing or feeling. Then I'd think, Oh wait, you're not on Twitter, it doesn't matter! Here are some of the tweets I might have written:

Thought it was a cockroach. Thankfully only a baby gecko. Aw.

  

Cor blimey. Gareth Bale looks hot with his new long hair and beard combo. When did this happen?

2,600 word today! #amwriting

Bloody hell Catalunya. Two nationalities is complicated enough for me. Don't goooooooooooo

I'm dancing on a table with my mother-in-law and half of Mallorca @OktoberFest #doesntgetbetterthanthis

Erm, yeah, so all essential observations... In fact I'm quite relieved I didn't post them. 

Ah. Oops. 

Day 4 - Good News

I wrote 1000 more words than my usual. When I felt a pull to check Facebook or Twitter, I went on the goodnews network. It's still procrastinating, but at least the articles didn't leave me feeling frustrated or upset. The truth is, every day there are incredible acts of kindness and inspirational people doing amazing things. If only the mainstream media shared some of them... 

Day 5 - Everyone's addicted

When you're not checking your phone all the time, you notice how many people are. They arrive at an event, they update. They order food, they update. Don't get me started on the amount of selfies being taken! Or Selfie Sticks! I felt like it was more important than ever to stay off my phone. 

Day 6 - Take it or Leave it

Towards the end of the week, I felt only a mild curiosity to see what I might have missed while being off my networks. My husband mentioned things being shared, like 'Pig Gate' (?) that I hadn't heard of. Does it make any difference knowing where the prime minister put his genitalia at university? Maybe, but I'm not sure...

Day 7 - Resolutions

I decide not to re-install my Facebook app on my phone. It's the one I wasted most time on. Being off it for 7 days has been a liberating experience.

Day 8 - Aftermath

I checked my Twitter and Facebook today and realised I'd hardly missed anything. I had warned people I'd be off it and of the 41 Facebook notifications, half of them were invites to events I wouldn't have been able to go to in the UK, birthday alerts and close friends updating their statuses. 

I know I would have checked each notification and then I would have spent 5 minutes or more scrolling through other posts. That's a potential 205 minutes I reclaimed! 

I hadn't missed much on Twitter either, although it's always great to hear from people who are reading my book and it would have been nice to reply to some of those tweets sooner. Still, it shows that instead of checking Facebook and Twitter every hour of the day, it would be quite enough to check it once or twice (depending of course what you're using it for).

Conclusion: The world does not end when you have a 1 week Social Media Detox. On the contrary you might feel freer and happier as your brain relaxes and you make space for other opportunities to arise.   

Pen Heaven Q&A - How to make it as an author

This week I joined three other writers for a Q&A at Pen Heaven:

"Every author knows where they want to end up, but few know what it really takes to get there as well as, all importantly, where to start. There is no guide to becoming an author. No manual. No seven step program. That is why we’ve gone and hunted out authors from all walks of life to pick their brains and see how they got their start in the publishing world. From graphic novels to children’s books and romance novels, these writers have seen their work grow from simple ideas to full-fledged works of art and now they want to help you do the same."

Continue reading the full Q&A at Pen Heaven. 

Lessons from the Writing Journey: Chill Out

After three months working on a novel, with 75,000 words already written, the agent phones up to say she doesn't like it. 

I'm on reception, temping at an osteopathic clinic. It seems inappropriate to sob in front of the waiting patients so I schedule a breakdown for any time after 5.30pm. As breakdowns go it's a quiet one. Just a couple of beers and a bath filled with my own tears.             

On the scale of things, three months isn't all that long to spend on a novel. That I contemplated giving up writing altogether probably sounds like an overreaction. But of course I wasn't focusing on the last three month, was I? I was looking back at 19 years of wanting to make it as a novelist. I was thinking of the three other novels stored on my computer which had never seen the light of day. The mind is very good at turning a slight obstacle into a mountain of epic proportions.

            

Despite my inner turmoil, I couldn't help thinking that I'd invested too much effort and energy to just give it up. I was also worried that if I did I'd always feel like I'd failed. What I needed to do was dig into my reserve of stamina and charge ahead. If other writers had managed to get published and make half a living out of doing what they loved then so could I.

           

By the following day I'd given up the idea of giving up and was focused on trying to come up with a new idea. But I was so anxious about not having an idea that I couldn't possibly think of one. I felt sick to my stomach. Having stamina is a fat lot of good if you've got no decent ideas.

            

When I met the assistant agent for a coffee and a debrief, I had nothing concrete to tell her. 

           

"Apart from writing, how have you been?" she said brightly.

            

That drew a blank. Apart from writing... what had I done?

           

It was a bit of a wake up call. What was I supposed to write about if all I did was write? I had to enjoy myself a bit more. I had to go out and see things.

            

As soon as I relaxed, two things happened.

            

First, I got a new idea.

            

Second, I got sick.

         

Our bodies are very clever, aren't they? I think mine just wanted to make sure I stayed away from the computer so the idea could germinate a little longer. I'm excited about it now, but to save me some grief I'm going to wait until I hear my agent's thoughts. 

In the mean time, I won't be stressing. As soon as the next triangle of sunshine falls across the living room carpet, I'm going to stretch out across it and pretend I'm on holiday. 

           

                       

MY MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

How to Write that Novel Faster

Image from Kittybloger

A couple of months ago I felt like I had lost all self-discipline. I had a new novel to write but I wasn't getting the words down. Instead I was wasting far too much time online. In that unproductive month I must have signed over twenty online petitions, clicked on as many cute kittens and tweeted enough words for a few chapters.

 

Two things happened to get me back in gear. Firstly, I was at a party with Alix Christie, the wise and brilliant author of the upcoming Gutenburg's Apprentice, and she said to me:

 

"you must be careful you don't waste all your creative energy on social media and have nothing left for the book." That really woke me up. Social media is brilliant if you have great content to share, but it takes time and energy to create that. What would I prefer? A hundred thousand words worth of random tweets or a novel?

 

The second thing to happen was I asked my agent for a deadline. "Before the London Book Fair would be good," she said. "March?" Until I wrote Spray Painted Bananas I didn't think it was possible to write a decent draft of a novel in three months. I do now. I've found a way.

 

Writing fast isn't for everybody and some books need to be slow cooked for years. But I prefer to bash a draft out and edit later. If you wish you were writing faster, these tips might help: 

 

7 Tips for Writing Faster:  

 

 

1. Decide what is your writing goal for the week - this might be a word count, a number of chapters or to finish a particular section.

 

2. Set a realistic daily word count - it doesn't matter if it's only 100 words, what matter is that it's achievable so you won't be put off, and you will feel happy when you've completed them each day.

 

3. Don't go on social media until you've finished your daily word count - this one makes a huge difference! As soon as you go on Facebook, Twitter or your Email you're guaranteed to get distracted. When I'm feeling weak, I'll write half my word count goal, check my social networks, then switch off again for the second half.

 

4. Write DRAFT at the top of the page - it will make you feel less self-conscious. It's okay if your writing is terrible, at this point you just want to get the story down. Don't worry about editing until later.

 

5. Use post-its and a corkboard to track your chapters - useful for getting an overview of the novel and keeping on top of what you have and haven't written.

 

6. Leave the chores for your break time - put off the washing and hoovering until you need a break from writing. Doing something practical and physical will give your mind some space. Often a solution to my plot problems will come when I'm washing the dishes.

 

7. Plan what you need to write the night before - that way you're ready to get stuck in straight away the following day.

 

MY MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Blogging Towards Publication - My Article in Litro Magazine

 

"Whatever it is you think you should be blogging about, forget it. Successful creative bloggers don't set up their blog based on what they think will get them a million followers, a publishing deal and an award for Best Blog of the Year. Successful bloggers start their blogs motivated by a passion for their subject, a passion that sustains their blog and keeps them developing new ideas for it over the years to come."

Read my full article in Litro Magazine.


UPCOMING WORKSHOP: Blogging for Beginners and Improvers  

Saturday 13th July 10.30am - 2.30pm (including 30min break)
@ 77 Tower Bridge Road, SE1 4TW
Fee: £40.00 Limited Places.

This intensive workshop is packed with tips about how to make the most of your blog, how to promote it, gain a readership, keep it interesting and also, importantly, what to avoid. If you’ve been meaning to start a blog for a long time, why put it off any longer? Come along for a friendly, fun and informative workshop.

For more information visit my Social Media Workshops Page.

Note to Self

I realise I’m procrastinating when I find myself wiping down my keyboard with a cotton bud.

Don’t try it at home. It just spreads dust from one key to the other.

When I set myself an amount of words to write, I get those words written. If I don’t set myself a deadline, no one else will.

I’m fifty words away from completing my target but I’ve stopped to play with a cotton bud.

It’s because I’m feeling hypersensitive about a comment I received on my blog.

The reader wrote that he didn’t agree with my recent views and that I was getting sloppy.

It’s good that people have different opinions and express them. In fact I wish the author of the comment would get a blog going so I could read what he has to say more fully.

Alas, not everyone has time to write a blog. You’d be surprised how many hours they take.

Which is why it’s irritating when a reader only comments when they don’t like the post.

Criticism doesn’t succeed in its aims without encouragement.

My writers group (who meet monthly) is ruthless with their feedback but when I leave, though I may want to temporarily burn my manuscript, I feel good because I know and they know it’s because I can do better.

To help me get through my novel, I began the ‘Enough is Enough Writing Group’ with a fellow writer, who was fed up of procrastinating. It consists literally in the two of us getting together every two weeks and reading through each other’s chapters.

The energy that our meetings produce and the motivation we feel afterwards is enough for us to power through to the next stage.

I really recommend to anyone struggling through a project, whatever it may be, to join forces with someone like-minded.

But choose wisely.

If you find yourself coming away from a session with them, feeling as flat as road kill in the middle of the motorway, then they are not the right people for you.

Find someone who’ll make you fight for what you want, not someone who’ll leave you pondering the efficacy of a cotton bud.