Thursday, January 08, 2009

Art and Writing Questions Answered

To answer a few of the questions generated by the previous post, I approved the sketch today for Maelstrom and now the artist will start layering in the colors. When the artwork is done, I'll put it on the website. If all goes well, it will look perfect and no additional template-tweaking will be necessary.

Once the art looks right, I'll finish adding content to dead links, add some other content if anyone has further recommendations, and then I'll start trying to build a larger audience. I have some ideas for that, including web advertising, word of mouth, social networking, and maybe some fliers or posters on bulletin boards at the universities near where I live.

For the immediate future, the site content will consist of short stories, posts by the band members, and reviews of their shows. Obviously since the band isn't real, I'm the one writing all those things. The woman doing my artwork has agreed to let the "band" interview her at some point, so that's going to be a lot of fun and I hope it will result in some business for her.

As for the novel, it's currently available only to friends who request it and only in electronic format. I anticipate doing a final round of edits before making a decision what to do next. What I usually do is a perfunctory query of maybe ten or so agents to see if there is interest out there. If my concept doesn't get any nibbles, I post the novel online and make a print version available via Lulu. I don't know if I'll do Maelstrom this way, but it's the most likely scenario.

I may, however, decide to skip the querying and go straight to web and POD. Traditional publication is a tough business to break into and it can be a real time-suck, with no guarantee of success, no matter how good your book is. Publishing is a business like any other and if your story isn't perceived to be a solid money-maker, it won't get picked up.

I think Maelstrom might be just right for the current market, but traditional publication comes with a set of obligations that would probably be incompatible with how I live my life right now. It's an additional consideration as I ponder where I want to go with this book. It was great fun to write and I want others to read it and have as much fun as I did, but I don't want to lock myself into a whole new world of commitments and deadlines that will take the joy out of writing.

I hope this explanation helps. Share your thoughts and ideas! Maybe we could have Maelstrom do a bunny benefit at some point, with or without a real fund-raiser. They're anxious to make the big time and will put their name out there any way they can.

7 comments:

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Thanks for revealing the master plan. There are so many ways to be writer these days; very creative BG. Ha, ha, a bunny benefit, very cool. What about having a graphic badge that friends could have on their blogs that linked into the Maelstrom site, might get a few folks from their pool of visitors hooked........

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

I'll be doing a banner for Maelstrom like I did for Steal Tomorrow, but it will probably be based on the artwork I've commissioned. So for at least a few more days, I'm in a holding pattern.

I wrote a story draft for a bunny benefit, though. I'm thinking of a series of stories, leading up the the Bunny Benefit Bash itself. That would allow time for talking it up, and I could decide how the fund-raising should actually work.

I might schedule it for Easter timeframe, since a lot of folks have bunnies on their mind around that time. That would also give me time to do a unique badge or banner for it.

Anonymous said...

A bunny benefit is a great idea!!

Hmm.. how bout if 1 of the band members had a pet rabbit? The news about Clint Eastwood having a pet rabbit did get a lot of bunny people excited :D

RG said...

... thanks for the explain. Between that and browsing around in the website I sort of got it! Good luck there - it will be fun to watch and follow ...

Maybe Maelstrom could do a song or two on the next BunnyTunes!

But hold on ... a bunny benefit put on by a bunch of non-humans many of whom have sharp teeth, are almost all raging sex-maniacs, make loud raucous drumming, and seem to mostly disapprove of humans ???? Huhhhh .... duuuoohhh ... now I REALLY get it!!!

Well keep us posted ... maybe a MOnday MAelstrom segment or something ...

RoadBunner said...

Thanks for the inside scoop! The process is very interesting. I will have to check out your other work, too!

MaoMao said...

I think that's a furry good idea fur the band to do a bunny bennyfit. Maybe they kould do a bennyfit fur kitties, too!

Kittyhugs and purrs from MaoMao!

Thomma Lyn said...

I'm with Mao. I love the Bunny Benefit idea! And how exciting about the art -- I loved the sketch of Kalila and can't wait to see the whole thing! You've got good ideas about how to progress with Maelstrom. It's a wonderfully fun book -- its dark humor hooked me from the beginning!