Reading and signing

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This saturday I’m doing a reading, and signing, with fellow fantasy author, Joanne Hall, in swansea’s Oxfam bookshop and I’ve been rather conveniently ignoring the fact that part of a reading, means reading! Out loud, so people can hear me. I hate that.

Now, I am proud of my book. I put a lot of effort into it, it came out more or less the way i wanted to, it’s the best thing I think i’ve written. Ever. I want people to read it, and enjoy it. But, when you read it out loud, well, it sounds daft. Talking about demons and things. And i get nervous, and stumble over my words, and sound stupid, and i worry that will put people off. You shouldn’t judge my book by my bad reading of it. You should buy it, read it, then judge it :)

So, if you do come along, please forgive me if i sound a total tit. I will get better, I’m sure, and the book is good. I promise!

To Self-publish or Not to Self-publish?

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My novel has been published with a small print publisher, but at conventions and so forth I’m often asked if it was self published. Self published books, vanity press, has long been regarded as cheating, that anyone with money could get a book published, regardless of quality of the writing, or the plot. Publishers offer security, that at least someone liked the book enough to invest in it, to edit and print it. that’s the theory at least.

And i generally agreed with it. Until recently. After reading a new book i had long been looking forward to, and finding it daft, contradictory and just poor, i can no longer say with confidence, that a properly published book is any better than some thing someone prints for themselves. So, i am considering this route myself. Not for my novels. The idea of having to edit 120k worth of words alone is terrifying, but for a collection of short stories. The collection I have been trying to write for years. I’m going to try and get some other writers involved, one or two stories from each of us, and then if a few publishers don’t want it, i will self publish it myself. Working out royalties between all the writers will be fun, so i hope to keep this project between friends, for ease, but i think it’s a go. A chance to get my name out there a little more, and for new writers as well, and perhaps the only way i will get my collection of faerie stories!

As for my novel, well, back to the start of the third book. After faffing for so long, with festivals and trips to the village, i realised that the reason it wasn’t working is because it’s all wrong. So, back to the start for me.I can still use a lot of the later work, but the beginning, that has to be redone. But far better it’s done right, than done wrong and fast.

British Fantasy Society and Cardiff Expo

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Monday was the Welsh gathering for fantasy/sci fi and horror nerds here in Swansea. It took place in the No Sign Wine Bar, a suitable venue, as venues go, and was basically just a group of us sitting around, talking and drinking. It was a good night, a chance to talk to other writers and publishers and to promote my own work, though most of what i remember, after just two glasses of wine, was discussing Knightmare, the children’s show from the 80s, and how things were much better ‘in my day.’

Saturday was the Cardiff Comic Expo. It was my first comic expo and i had a table with Joanne Hall, a fellow fantasy writer. And it was excellent! Lots of people in costume, from comics, from anime, from fantasy and sci fi generally, all ready to chat. It was a good, friendly place, lots on sale, including copies of my book. And, surprise of all surprises, a friend of mine, from Live Journal, many eons ago, was also there. I wasn’t sure i recognised her, at first, her hair was a different colour and it wasn’t at all what i expected, but yep! It was her, Reaperfox. It was a slow day, but i still had a great time meeting new people. I think that’s the part i enjoy most about promotion, getting out there, meeting new people and talking about books and fantasy. The other parts, the internet sales, the readings, that’s a lot harder.

It’s always great to meet other writers, (everyone is a writer, if not, they’re an artist! :) ) other fantasy fans, to network and to sell and I had a great time. WIll be back next year, dressed up and hopefully with something new to sell.

Bristol, Cardiff and Beyond!

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Well, tomorrow I’m at Bristol, doing a reading/signing. Next weekend if Cardiff Expo, for signing, with Joanne Hall (see my calender for details on all this) And in April Joanne and I are doing a signing in Swansea Oxfam Bookshop! I have the flyers for that, so have to get on promoting, and hopefully people will show this time. It’s hard being a writer these days, having to promote. People don’t come if they don’t know you, and won’t get to know you if they don’t come. But on the advice of a friend I have rejoined Twitter, to see if that will help me get out there more, and I missed the postings of the Horrible Histories gang. This is ME on twitter, feel free to follow me. I’m still on Facebook, of course.

For my reading tomorrow i have put together an introduction, so i won’t ramble like an idiot. I will, of course, have to start thinking of something else to read for other readings, otherwise people may get bored of hearing me the same thing! I remember hearing Robin Hobb read from Shaman’s Son, in Glasgow, a few years back, and she sounded fairly bored. I didn’t much like the book anyway, but i think if even the writer sounds bored reading it, it’s not going to appeal much to new readers. The issue, of course, is what to read? Something drammatic, but not too spoilery, that doesn’t require too much introduction. Hmm.

Still, busy few months, hopefully a busy year, with lots of sales, and this book/series finished!

And training for Race for Life. Now that I have my depression under some control, I’ve signed up for the 5k Cancer Walk/Run. I did it 5 years ago, and enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to that. Set myself a high target though, so if anyone out there fancies sponsoring me . . .

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/frannyjacobs

The internet: making connections.

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I love the internet. It brings people together. It’s given me the chance to be published, to talk directly with my publisher, and then with readers, as well as to make new friends and new fans. And it gives me a chance to network, and get talked into doing readings and signings on very little notice!

As with now. It looks like I will be doing a reading, and signing, in Bristol on 23rd Feb, which is scary, but exciting too. I know that some people will be in Exeter for a convention, and i know that it is short notice, both of which suit me as it means there won’t be too many people there to see me make a fool of myself! The weekend after I will be in Cardiff, at the Comic Expo, doing signings there too. I’m excited about that. A chance to dress up, to sign books, meet people. It’s what i enjoy about writing, other than the actual writing, the chance to talk to people about it, about books, to meet people who are also passionate about it.

The reading part, well, not so much. That scares me. I worry, did i chose the right bit, am i reading too fast, am i boring people? I had 5 people at my first reading. No one brought anything after, so i worry that i chose the wrong bit, or i just have a bad book in my hands.

But, i wrote the book that i wanted to, and i love it, so that’s all that i can do really. That, and have a strong drink before hand, and plan out what I’m going to say a little better than last time.

Hope to see lots of you there :)

New year, same problems.

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Well it’s a new year. I had hoped to finish the Children of the Shadow by now, but I’m still struggling with it. Writing is hard. I know what is wrong with it, but not how to fix it. It all concerns the gods, the dark gods, the demons. Working out their nature, and how their worship would follow is surprisingly difficult. Are they all ‘evil?’ Do they all inspire fear? Spirits of nature, that means they have a light side too, right? Nature is, after all, dangerous, but also the source of life. So, how would their festivals be? What form would their worship take? Working it out is actually rather difficult. So i’m not! I’m leaving it alone for the moment and finishing off a faerie story for the collection. Of course, they also have their problems. Many faeries had a penchant for children, they are offered up as a tithe for the devil, they are eaten by water creatures, or drowned. But I’m not sure how well a book of faeries killing children would go down! So I’m trying to come up with alternatives, but still remain true to some of the original aspects of the faerie myth. I’m also trying to have a mix, stories from the faerie’s point of view, stories from the point of view of those who encounter them, and stories that have happy, and sad endings. But so far I only have three, and two of them end rather badly! But I want to get another 4 together, so hopefully i can still find that balance.

So this is where i am. New year, new start, old problems on old projects.

Tagged!

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Fellow fantasy writer, Joanne Hall, tagged me in a meme thing, the next big thing, that has been going around, so here are my answers to the questions put to me.

1) What is the working title of your next book/short story/project?

Children of the Shadow.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

It just popped into my head. I was on the train, can’t remember where I was going, probably home to see parents, and I realised that I needed some sort of wacky cult, and the Children of the Shadow were born. It’s only when writing the book that they have taken real shape and purpose. It certainly wasn’t something that I planned when I wrote the first book the series, the Shadow Seer, but, back then, I had no idea I would have reason to write the entire series. I never really saw beyond that first book.

3) What genre does your book fall under?
Fantasy

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

My dad thinks Johnny Depp for the lead, Candale, but i think that’s all wrong. I’m not sure there is an actor tall and thin enough to play him, though there are certainly many pretty enough . . . I rather like Xavier Samuel, who i saw in the Loved Ones (fab film) He’s pretty, thin, and looks good with curly hair. Not tall enough though. Though, to be honest, I would probably forgo how much they look like characters and just fill the film with actors i like, Tim Roth, Alexander Skarsgard, that sort of thing. Well, it’s my film, why not!

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Candale finds himself stuck in the mountains with a bunch of nuts and has to get away.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

My publisher will print it, I’m hoping! Small print.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Sadly, I’m still doing i. I started it 18 months ago, perhaps. I spent 6 months trying to write a standalone book, but then realised i really had to get this done and out the way first. And here I am, still trying to get it right. The first book was done in a year, and was a big fat monster of a thing. It’s been harder since then, trying to battle plot lines and a few personal brain issues.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I would most like to compare this to Carol Berg’s Lighthouse Duology and Song of the Beast, as they are my favourite books. But I’m not sure I’m anywhere near her league. I think that, other than my character, Dale, being caught up in stuff that is beyond him, like Valen and Adain, and it being in first person point of view, it’s probably not that similar. But her standard is my aim.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

No one and nothing.  I’m always writing, and I had the first two done so I had to get on with the last one in the series. The beginning of the Shadow Seer was inspired by Hush by Paula Cole, the idea of a boy slowly dying, created images in me that I used. Other parts of the book have been inspired by Asian horror films, their love of creepy girls with long dark hair, and things that I have seen, places I have been. Also, Assassin’s Apprentice, which i was reading at the time of writing, and the idea of having a character who was a prophet, as the fool in that book was. I think they’re under used as characters, though prophecies often exist in fantasy books.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

I hope people will want to read it because they’ve read the first two. I hope they want to read the first two because it is different from other fantasies, it’s not driven by lots of violent action, but by the characters, it features a prophet, a dark prophet, as the main character and it also has some spooky, dark things in it.

Depression, writing and whatnot.

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I have depression. I’ve had it on and off in varying degrees for as long as i can remember. I’m 35 now. It’s rather crippling. I’ved been told, before, that being depressed doesn’t stop you cleaning. I’ve heard it doesn’t stop you working. I’m going to tell you, real depression, not just feeling a bit sad, does. it stops you doing anything. it takes all the fun out of life, dwestroys what you enjoyed, leaves you hollow and indifferent. And that’s what stops you cleaning and working and doing anything. You don’t care. The house is full of crap, you don’t care. You don’t have any clean dishes, there are flies and maggots around, you haven’t bathed in weeks, you really don’t care. Sometimes you cry, but that rarely happens for me. It’s mostly that i am SO tired, all the time, that i can’t get out of bed, and when i do, i just sit on the sofa and eat, cos eating in the only way that the day will end. The only way to get through it, back to bed. I’ve had it for years. I had it while writing the Shadow Seer, but i had uni too, and some how that helped get me through it. Now i am alone with it, and so I’m struggling to write. But i am trying, though i fear that I am letting Candale and his friends, and the people who loved the first book, down.

I’m saying this because i think you can see it in my writing, or may be i’m just paranoid. Book 2 was hard for me to write, because of the depression. To me, it lacks something, something of the flow, the warmth, the detail because of that. Book 3 is hard, for the same reason. I wonder if my struggles can be seen by others, in the words, in the pages. But I’m trying, I’m doing my best, even though the thrill, the love, the passion has been eaten by the depression monster.

I am rather tired of him.

 

Signings: a sad state of affairs

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So, I have a signing arranged at Swansea Library for the end of the month with fellow fantasy writer Joanne Hall. The library warned me that even though they put up posters, not many people come to these things. But I was prepared to do some promotion myself, made some posters, got some flyers and went to put them out in Oxfam bookshop. They are more than happy to put them out and to let me do a signing there, perhaps. Certainly nicer than the indie bookshop on Uplands who said no, outright. But, like the library, they warned me not many people come, even if they promote. And i find that so sad. As a kid I used to love to go to book signings, to meet authors, and i would read any book on the fantasy shelf. I loved to try new things. But readers today seem to be fussier. Is that because bookshops only stock the main authors, so it’s actually harder to get to know new authors. There are more books available online, of course, but it’s hard to browse. You cant just look for titles and at pretty covers and take it from there, the way you can in a shop. You need to know what you want or have a recomendation. Is this why people don’t come to book signings? Because if they haven’t heard of the book, or had it recomended, they won’t take the chance? But getting someone to hear of your book, to get them to want to read it, that’s a difficult thing too. You can’t just bug people, because that pisses them off. You can’t fake reviews, because that pisses them off AND opens you up to ridicule and a bad reputation. So, what to do? Social networks are all well and good, but you can’t spam them, you need to get to know people, network, talk in groups, give advice, sell yourself, without selling yourself. But that isn’t easy for everyone. I’m not very good at it. I hate twitter and don’t have the patience to give the same general advice over and over on writing forums. It seems that, though technology, social networks, have brought us together with new people and given us more choice, more access to things we wouldn’t have had otherwise, it also creates more of a crowd, which is harder to stand out from. So, im trying real world promotion, discount flyers, posters, as well as online. I’ll find out end of the month if my promotion has paid off.

I really hope it does :)

Bristol Con: Sales and my reading!

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Well, we missed the train and arrived a little later than we wanted and the day didn’t go too well from there. We only sold three books and only five people sat in on my reading.

BUT i enjoyed myself. The reading was fun to do, though scarey, and i want to do one again next year! And, watching a guy at work nearby, i realised i need to be more forceful. His book was more expensive, and self published, but he sold more copies cos he grabbed everyone who walked in. Granted, my table was half hidden by his giant poster, and tucked into the corner, but grabbing people is the way to go i think! I did meet someone who is doing an expo in Cardiff in March, though, which I will now be attending, so it wasn’t a complete disaster.

All in all, i had fun, which is the most important thing. But clearly i need to push more if i want to make millions this way! :P