300 Words

That's all it would take for a person to write a novel every year.  One page, or 300 words, every day, and you would be writing a pretty good length manuscript every year.  That's awesome.

Now, there is a lot more to it than that, there is grammar and punctuation and storyline... and reading. 

"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write.  Simple as that." -Stephen King

However, the point of this post is to talk about the act of writing.  The words have to hit the page if you want to write a story.  Short story, novel, epic, poem, screenplay, it doesn't matter what it is, if you don't sit down and write it, it won't get done.  There are some writers that swear by their word count, and others that don't have one at all.  In my case, I need the daily word count.  (I don't always stick to it, I'm slacker.  There are far too many days that I don't write at all, but I feel like crap on those days because I don't feel like I've accomplished anything.)

When I'm being good, my word count is 2500 words a day.  That's a lot.  On writing days, though, I hit that number and life is good.  Some of it is trudging, and sometimes my brain is numb because I know that I'm writing things that will just be deleted later, but the story moves forward.  Forward motion, hopefully every day, is paramount to finishing what you start.

300 words is a very low number.  Fourth graders are hitting 300 words for their essays and book reports, the night before it's due.  However, if I wrote every day, and my word count was only 300 words, I would still be writing a novel a year.  Now take that back to when I started this blog, when I finally decided that I was going to do it, (my first post was in May of 2008) and I would have at least four novel-length manuscripts. 

Would they all be worth reading?  Maybe not, but even without writing every day, I have written thousands of pages that will never see the light of day.  Every writer has.  (Okay, probably not every writer)  The sad truth, though, is that I have those four novels in my head already.  They are good stories, that I think people will enjoy them, because I think I would love to read them.  I just haven't written them because, as I said earlier, I'm a slacker.

What's the point?

Write every day.  You should, I should, anyone that hopes to get their story out there should write every day.  Even if it's only one page.

Alright, that's it.  Thanks for reading.
buh bye then

End of the Tour

Well here we are, folks.  The River Runes blog tour is officially over, and it's time to talk about the results.  First, I'd like to welcome all of the new readers to Just 1 Writer, who came in from other places in the tour.

"Welcome!"

I am truly excited to see so many new subscribers, I believe there are 23 of you, and I can't say how much I appreciate your support of the blog tour.  Feel free to browse around, check out some of the popular posts, and comment as much as you'd like.  I'm really glad to have you here!

I have already reached out to the winners of the tour, there were several ebook giveaways throughout, and the big giveaway here, so check your emails to see if it's you.  If not, I'm sure this won't be the last giveaway we have here.  If it is you, congratulations!

Next, I want to talk a little about what changes I've seen, thanks to the blog tour.  As I said earlier, this blog has gotten over 20 new subscribers!  I'm excited about this, and I can't wait to see how many of you guys turn into regular readers of the blog.  My twitter account has also gained quite a few new followers, and this is the first time my followers number has been higher than my following number.  I hope I'm not to boring!  If you're a new follower on twitter, @ me with a question or comment sometime and I'll be sure to get back to you.

As far as sales go, I think it's too early to say.  Getting my name, and The River Runes, out there was the big point.  At least as far as this tour was concerned.  The more people that know the book is out there, the more of a chance that they will buy it.  No one buys something they don't know exists, they have to hear about it first.  Overall, the experience was a good one, and I think this helps me in my planning as I rev up to release Clockwork Charlie.  The launch for that will be much bigger, more blog stops, more giveaways, more everything.  I'm already psyched.

So, my thanks go out to all the great folks that hosted during the tour, and all of you that paid attention.  The blog will go back to normal on Thursday, or at least as normal as it ever is.

Thanks for reading,
buh bye then

Great First Week!

Wow.

It's been one hell of a week.  This is the end of week one on the blog tour for The River Runes, and it's been very exciting.  Eight stops so far, and more to come next week.  The reviews have been kind, and the interviews were fun and I've been able to share the book with a bigger audience than ever before.  If you haven't checked it out yet, GO HERE

Also, Welcome to all of the new followers to the blog!  I'm excited to have you guys and girls along as I make this writing journey.  I'm not the most reliable poster, but I do my best. :)

Once the tour is over, I will post more specifics about how it went, and do my best to tell you how it may or may not have affected my sales and marketing plans for the future.

This is a short one, just wanted to say hi, and thanks for reading. (new readers and those of you that have been here awhile, alike)

Thanks for reading
buh bye then
  

Animated Covers!?!

I don't know how many of you read J.A. Konrath's blog, A Newbies Guide To Publishing, but yesterday he posted some examples of his new animated covers.  Here's the post: Animated Covers!. (I'm sad Stephen King's book won't be in ebook format for awhile, but I'm not mad.  I still buy paperbacks all the time)  I fell in love, go check them out if you haven't seen them.

I liked them so much that I spent almost the entire day trying to make one for myself that was halfway decent. I'm sad I couldn't do one for The River Runes (since my laptop went bye bye I lost most of my non-essential book files), but I'm psyched about the one I did for Clockwork Charlie.  Once I launch this book, hopefully in August, this baby will be making its way through blog tours galore:

What do you think?  I'm very happy with it, but I'm not sure if I should keep the wink at the end (Opinions Please! lol).  And hey, if you are interested in getting an animated cover to help show off your book, you can contact Deer Watson Media at deerwatsonmedia@gmail.com to see what they can do for you. 

Also, Monday is the official beginning of the blog tour for The River Runes!!  Make sure to follow along Right Here so that you can enter for your chance to win an ebook version of  the book and a $50 Amazon gift card.

 Alright, all, that's it for today.
Thanks for reading.
buh bye then