Monday already? Wow, guess it’s time for another blogpost.
I posted on my Facebook fan page that I needed some ideas on what to write about. Not that I don’t have a ton of ideas, but the ones in my head may not be what you want to read. I was lucky to get a great response which has led to the following words.
When I first started DEAD MECH, I had grand plans for world domination! I still do, but of course reality gave me a good, hard slap upside the head and those plans, while still there, are moving like a slow assault instead of the juggernaut I expected.
This should not come as a surprise to any busy author, or podcaster, that has a full time job and a family. I’ve listened to a ton of podcasters saying how much work podcasting is and read a million interviews (well, maybe only 900,000 interviews) by authors on the long hours spent writing into the wee hours of the night in order to get words on paper and their project finished. For some reason (reason equaling my giant, stupid ego) I thought I was above all this hassle and I’d be able to whip out a novel, podcast it, get it published, make some merchandise, get a TV or movie deal, make those projects, get paid millions and then life would just take care of itself. Completely realistic, right?
Well, I accomplished quite a bit of this and probably could have gotten to the other stuff (maybe not the millions of dollars, right off…), but there was one thing I didn’t account for. DEAD MECH isn’t a one-off novel, it’s part of a three book series. And those other two books don’t write themselves. Now, I’m used to multi-tasking, I’m a parent and husband that works full time, so you have to multi-task or nothing gets done, but I’ve never been an author before. There are aspects of a writer’s life you don’t realize until they are right in your face.
The first aspect is there is only so much time in the day and only so much a brain can do within that time. I’m lucky I write fast, so getting my word count in isn’t too hard. The other stuff though… Yikes! In order to get more content out there, and keep the DEAD MECH machine rolling, I’ve had to put the merchandising, the graphic novel, the really cool video campaign I wanted to do, the RPG, the all important interviews, etc, on hold and just write.
Second novel is written, though. “What?” you say. “Second novel written?” Yeah, I’ve kept that under wraps pretty well, don’t you think? (I’ll say more in the coming months). But, it’s still rough and needs work. I’m also in the middle of writing a YA novel not related to DEAD MECH. That is taking up a ton of time, also. (More info on that soon, too).
In addition, I happen to be one of those people that is done creating at a certain point in the day. I can’t push it, I can’t force it to happen and I can’t just crank out crap to fix later. I have to have decompression time to let the stories work themselves in my head. I’m a systems guy, a bit of an efficiency expert, and I’m OCD when it comes to wasted energy and time. If my brain says, “Work time over! Relax now or I shut down EVERYTHING!” then I have to comply or whatever I try to produce will just have to be re-done later and my OCD kicks in and I freeze up for days. Trust me, I’ve tried.
There is this other thing that has gotten in the way of building the DEAD MECH empire: money. Cash, scratch, credits, cha-ching, etc. That’s one detail you can’t get around. To this day I have not made a single penny off DEAD MECH. “But what about all those signed books you shipped?” you ask. Nope, that money went to pay for other writing expenses. No profit so far. Ugh! So without cash there can be no posters, bumper stickers, caps, mouse pads, beer cozies and all that good stuff China makes for us. I do hope to have it out there at some point, but many factors go into this.
“But haven’t you had folks volunteer time and resources?” you ask. Wow, you guys sure are chatty today! I have had many people volunteer time and resources and I have taken a few up on those offers. The only problem right now is I don’t even have time-slash-brain power to coordinate the volunteers. If only I had a business manager and/or audio producer. But, what would the ramifications/expectations be in that kind of relationship? I can’t even wrap my mind around that at all. Business and creation don’t always want to play nice in the ole brainpan.
Now, I am NOT complaining. This is NOT a sympathy post. I just wanted to give y’all a little insight into my motivations and actions. I’m hoping some folks may learn from this or, at the very least, remember reading this when they find themselves in the same situation. Not in an “I told you so” way, but in a “You’re not alone!” way.
What more is there to say? Plenty, but I’ll have to save those words for the future. Before I go, I would like to say a special thank you to one volunteer that has been tireless in his work for me. Ed Delaney! You know him by the great podcast graphic he did for DEAD MECH and the OUTSTANDING cover he did for the published novel. If you haven’t gone to www.peculiarcomics.com then you should right away. Have a look see at what ED is up to. He’s an amazing artist and creator and a pretty darn good writer in his own right. Check him out!
That’s all for now, I better get back to writing novels and all that jazz.
Cheers Y’all!
Jake Bible Fiction 