Thursday 24 February 2011

11am - Thursday 24th Feb 2011 - A Eureka Moment...

I was sitting doodling and scribbling down ideas for short stories for around two hours this morning, in between ploughing through post after post on other writers blogs in the hopes of finding hints and tips for producing saleable - dare I even say profitable? - short stories. I've never written a short story before so feel I need all the help I can get.

My thoughts turned to my Novel (as yet un-published and in need of splitting and tweeking if it's ever to find it's way on to the Kindle marketplace) and it hit me... Sarah, the main character of my novel, was the source of my short story! The novel starts twelve months after Sarah travels to Africa with her Fiance. Something happens to her on that trip which changes both her and her life forever. The events which took place in Africa are, of course, outlined in the Novel, but the whole story isn't told in it's full detail, but it could be - as a stand alone short story!

Now, I'm not really in the habit of writing to word counts, as I prefer the freedom of writing until I run out of things to write, but, for Sarah and her shocking experiences at the hands of her captors - I can make an exception! I've looked at Kindle sold shorts and they seem to be around the 8000 word mark (give or take) which is very do-able, so that's my first goal - a short story about Sarah's lifechanging trip to Africa in around 8000 words!!

To the notepad!!

Tick Tock...

MoJo xox

This is it - Ground Zero!!!

Today is my official "Kindle Journey Start" day. It is the day I have chosen for taking that all important first step towards publication. It is the start of a new life as an Author and, if all goes to plan, a new career doing something I love to do, the way I want to do it.

I have spent the last few weeks reading various blogs and forums which have had a variety of posts regarding the whole question of self-publishing. Most of what I have read has been very pro-indie, with stories of Kindle sales outstripping traditional book sales for some Authors. Most of the less enthusiastic materials I have read have actually been within the comments left on the main posts, and are, it would appear, by people who have already experienced failure as indies or are scared of failing so have developed a habit of "what if" 'ing for paragraphs at a time.

Personally, I'd like to learn by experience. I am of the mind-set that I'll never truly know if something will work for me until I've tried it for myself. I have nothing to lose by publishing through Kindle. I'm writing the material anyway so I may as well give it my best shot!!

From now on the blog posts will be written as if they were diary entries. There may be days where I publish more than one post, but I will be putting the date and time on each one in order to remain accurate with timescales etc. 

I hope you will continue to follow me on my journey. It's always nice to have some company along the way!!

Tick Tock...

MoJo xox

Thursday 17 February 2011

Confucius said "A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step"...

And he was right. Check back in from 24th February when I will be officially starting on my Kindle journey.

Tick Tock...

MoJo xox