So, a few people have asked me what my blog is about, and beyond “writing” it’s a challenge to describe, but posts fall into four basic categories; news and releases, influences on my writing/recommendations, influences on me/my thoughts, and the writing process. So I had an idea about the last one that I thought you might like.
Embarking on my own publishing journey recently, I came to realise how little I knew, but also just how many other people were going through the writing process, and how many common experiences there were, so… over the next year there are going to be a series of blogposts here, which I think might be of interest to both fellow writers, and to readers and the wider public. Yes, I’m going to follow through the whole process of writing to publication and marketing in real time, describing the journey, the obstacles and how I overcome them, and I’ll cover all those elements I hadn’t thought about when I started this, cover design, copyright, ISNBs, formatting, social media and feedback, as well as the actual process of writing, editing and redrafting.
What makes me qualified to do this? Bugger all, but also everything. I have my first novel available on Amazon now and another one coming out soon, so I’ve been through many of these trials recently, but know I also I have so much left to discover. I therefore thought it would be fun and informative to share the whole voyage with you, with a fun twist to give you that extra incentive to follow what goes on; you get to be a part of it too!
I’ve written for years and never stop scribbling. I have a factual history I’m working on, a series of children’s books and a number of short stories, but I thought it might be an interesting experiment (on my part too) to gauge reaction, and see which work you’d like to read and for me to write. I can’t guarantee it will be the next to reach the state for publication, but I’m currently at the stage of deciding which of my works in progress to take forward next, so I’m actually going to let you decide! Pick the one that excites you, or that has a link to your own writing, so you can follow the ups and downs of the writing and publishing process with me.
Very soon I’ll put together the opening few pages of five partially written novels from the last decade and post them on the site, varying from completed first drafts to works I’ve only written the first 10,000 words of, and launch a poll, and whichever you pick, I’ll take forward next. I won’t give you plots, just the opening and a very vague pitch, as that might be where we all start. For now, because I’m a tease, here are the current working titles (bearing in mind I’ve never finished with the same title I started on). The titles are:
Love Isn’t, Hope is Six Letter Word, Letters to Soloman, Brf NCountr w a Nok 3310, and Boiling Metal.
I’ll announce and tweet when the poll opens, and when I put the openings online, but if you join my newsletter mailing list (bottom of the page) you’ll find out for yourself when they appear (don’t worry, I don’t send it often, but it does often include freebies!). Come back soon and join me in this adventure. I think we’ll both learn quite a lot on the way (and I’ll have some Q and A sessions so you can chip in too!).
Hope you like the idea and come back to vote on your favourite idea for a book.
Stay safe
Kit
Ps
And here’s the first thing I learned for free. What I want isn’t necessarily what’s best. I really wanted to call this blogpost What’s it all about, Alfie, it’s punchy, has a pun, as it started with a question about what my blog is for. The content doesn’t matter if no-one reads it though (lesson one I learned), so I changed the title to something I can tweet about, and will hopefully appeal to the audience it’s aimed at. Not a complicated lesson, but an important one for me, think about your potential audience. It doesn’t mean you need to change yourself or what you write, but it’s a fact of the World we live in that packaging matters.
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