The Adolescent Muse's Experiment

I'll be experimenting with web fiction this year as a way to keep me writing on a more regular basis as well as to improve my skills in storytelling and world building.

If you dare, you can check out my progress with the story at The Underverse.

I'm having fun with this project so far!

Web Serial Fiction

I'm in the process of working on a YA web serial fiction; so far, I'm enjoying it!

Has anyone attempted this particular venture? Success-yes, no?

A Writer's Birthday Thoughts

Today is my birthday.

Mostly, it feels like any other Saturday. After all, birthday is just a number. Right???

I've noticed, though, that the older I get, the more I tend to look back at all the events of my life. Why is that we judge the worth of our lives by particular events (graduating from high school/college, getting married, having children, climbing the corporate ladder, etc.) to determine if we've been successful or not?

Why is it that the older we get, we tend to fall into depression (or even desperation) because we're full of regrets for the things and dreams never fully realized?

Is that our heart and soul speaking? Or, the world's expectation of what should have been accomplished?

Who should we really be listening to?

Are we here to please the world and everyone in it? Hmm...some days this is a nice thought but would that bring us true happiness and joy? A true sense of contentment and fulfillment?

Most likely not.

To measure ourselves by others' standards is probably only inviting heartaches and bitter disappointments. I mean, our own personal standards (whether they are conscious or subconscious) are difficult enough since we expect only perfection out of ourselves and anything less means we're total failures.

Are we robots? No, we're humans which mean we are imperfect creatures, and these imperfections are what make us unique.

Special.

Original.

Combine all of these into an artist and you have a masterpiece.

So, why should we want to try and live up to everyone else's standards? To be more like them?
To be successful???

Just by being you, creating and sharing your art, your imperfections and uniqueness with others, is success in and of itself.


"I cannot give you a formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure – which is: try to please everybody." – Herbert Bayard Swope

Guest Blogger: Susan Helene Gotfried

A guest blogger's post about serial fiction at my other blog; feel free to come over and read!

A Quick Note: I wrote a manifesto!

I attempted to write my own writing manifesto and recently (gulp!) published it. I created a "Manifesto" page above if you'd like to read it.

Have a great rest of the weekend everyone!

Share Your Favorite Blogs!

Share your favorite blogs with us! Nope, you can't include your own (darn it!). The blogs do not have to be about writing either. They can be about anything.

Here are the five blogs that I just can't live without:

1. NFL Gridiron Gab: What can I say? I'm a football junkie!

2. Indiewire: Great for any movie lover

3. The Adirondack Lifestyle blog: Whenever I get homesick for my mountains, I visit this blog.

4. Jeff Goins the writer

5. Writerly Life


Now its your turn!

Pricing Your eBooks

I've been reading a lot of articles and blog posts about ebooks lately. I'm keenly interested because I hope to launch a few of my own projects as ebooks later this year. There's been a lot of chatter especially about how much an ebook should really cost; or, more importantly for those unknown writers who want to self-publish, but are unsure as to what price to set for their ebooks.

I was excited when I ran across an article written by Seth Godin on this very subject matter. Let's see what he has to say:

How much should an ebook cost? This is the wrong question.

The right question is: How much will an ebook cost?

Because the answer isn’t up to one author or one publisher or even a price-fixing cartel. It’s up to the market, which is a far more complicated entity. There are no shoulds in the market, just reality.

On one hand, the marginal cost of delivering a single ebook is close to zero. It might cost Amazon and B&N a dime to transmit it, but it certainly costs the publisher nothing.

Seth pretty much says that the market (aka readers) will drive the cost of ebooks. For example, the demand for Stephen King's ebooks would be a lot higher than for a relatively unknown author; so what would a publisher do? Set the price higher for King's ebooks because the demand is much greater.

These are your basic economic concepts of supply and demand which is the backbone of our market economy.

Oh yeah, what kind of price should you set for your ebook? Here is Seth's pricing model for ebooks:

Zero: promo titles

$1: backlist service titles, useful but not irreplaceable

$7: backlist titles from authors you love

$15: current bestsellers

For an author just starting out, you will keep your pricing lower until you developed a sizable readership and then you can begin to increase the prices of your ebooks.

If you want to read this article in its entirety, here's the link: How much should an ebook cost?

Hopefully, this will give you a clearer picture on how to price your own ebook.

Final Thoughts for 2011

2011 wasn't a very productive year for the writer in me. I'm almost too happy to see it leave. On the other hand, I really shouldn't say it was a complete waste either.

I did have two of my poems published: The King of Diamond and Diremption.

I also submitted a short story (Nightstalker) to the Lulu's Short Fiction contest. Although I didn't win, I now have an "ebook" published. This story will be a work in progress of an ongoing fictional series (one of my serialized fiction projects) which I'm now compelled to continue in 2012.

I also created a new writing blog (The Adolescent Muse:artistic crossroads) where I'll focus on some of my passions as a writer: genre writing and zombies. I also created an author website .

Okay, so 2011 wasn't that bad after all!

My Outlook and Goals for 2012

1. Write!
2. Read!
3. Work on my serialized fiction projects
4. Finish revising several poems and short stories and find them each a home
5. Write a writer's manifesto

How about you? Was 2011 a good year for the writer in you? What are your goals for the new year?

Holiday Wishes

Here's to wishing you and your family a very merry and safe Christmas!


(I'll be back after Christmas with final thoughts for 2011)

A Guest Blogging Opportunity

My other writing blog is currently looking for guest bloggers.