It’s been a while since I just sat down and wrote something. I always get a little discombobulated during the summer, figuring out new routines while the kids are out of school, doing job searches and overhauling our finances.
As far as writing news, How Ninja Brush Their Teeth is now free everywhere. Downloads of the free book have been meager but steady, resulting in a few downloads of the second story in that series: Rock Pirate Ninja.
I’ve been debating whether to write a third installment or move on to another project. I have a napkin scratch idea of a plot for a third book – most likely a full length novel and would love to explore more of these characters I’ve grown to love – namely Chuck and T.B’s back stories and sub-plots. I have a lot of background for them that never made it into the first two books. I thought it would be interesting to explore the martial art Kajukenbo, the style that Chuck and the gang are students of. Originally, the Rogue Ninja Series was meant to explore the dynamic personalities of three martial arts and how they played off each other. Ninjitsu (Tetsuo), Systema (Vasha) and Kajukenbo (Chuck).
So, what’s holding me back? Money. The money I make from selling the books isn’t enough to cover a cup of coffee once a month let alone the editing and cover costs for a full length novel. Not to mention the time, blood, sweat and tears that go into making a book readable.
What changes my mind? Readers. Even readers of the free stuff. The thrill of knowing someone read something I wrote and liked it is a thrill hard to match. I know the likelihood of making any kind of profit from this series is virtually nil – I just wish I could make enough to cover production costs.
It’s frustrating! I wish I was better at marketing! I swear, if a young person ever comes up to me and asks what classes I should take to become a better writer I would tell them to take a class in sales and marketing and go to the library for the rest. Ha!
Anyway, that’s what’s happening these days. If I sound discouraged with writing, it’s because I am. It happens. And it usually goes away in a couple of days, or if I’m in a hurry – after a couple of drinks. 😛
Cheers!
~R.
Rainbow Warpdrive 