For my latest novel, “To Cipher and to Sing”, I chose to focus on the few key elements I wanted. Like giant cog-wheels for a clock that had yet to be built. No matter how complex the rest of the mechanism, those wheels had to remain in place, and spin in the direction I’d planned.
Did it work?
Well, almost. I got one wheel, one plot point to remain in place (the murder mystery). Another one had to take a different spin when one of the characters who wasn’t supposed to die, did, and the last plot point encountered a quantum-level paradox and now occupies all my books at the same time, but only at lunchtime on Wednesdays.

The draft, as a result, was a murder mystery surrounded by sudden twists and turns, sometimes at right-angles with reality.
But that’s fine. And the point of this article is just this: keep a good hold on the main plot points and let the story find its way around them. I don’t think I would have been able to plan ahead for some of the more surprising and unexpexted events in the book.
As a result, my re-write was similar to a detective’s job. Discovering and connecting clues to the mystery itself to make sure they didn’t contradict each other. Figuring out which of the characters became more suspicious for the reader, and subtly changing dialogue and actions to reinforce such impressions. Leading, but especially misleading, all the way to the next twist.

I stand by my clumsy, failed planner method. It’s true that for the final edit I spent a week patching plot holes the size of Ohio, but the result is a novel which entertained me both writing it and editing it.

“To Cipher and to Sing” is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Book two should come up around June.

I hope that’s the right date.

I’m a terrible planner…

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You’re an indie author. You heard someone talking about building a reader base and raking in those likes, so off you go and create your author page on Facebook. Facebook, by the way, barely even has a page category for authors. “Writer” and “Author” are there, but there is no way to let people know what genre you write, or even that you write novels and not cookbooks, or road signs.

Anyway.

There you are with your author page, you’ve picked a nice mug shot and, I’m guessing, the cover art from your latest book for page background. A couple memes and a dozen Amazon links.

And of course you invite all your friends and family. And then you sit and stare at your page stats. 38 page likes in one day.

And the number stays the same the next day and the day after that. Damn relatives and friends, betraying you and not inviting the thousands you deserve. So you look at the competition, and see they have followers in the tens of thousands. What do they do that you don’t? Well money, of course! They must be spending shazillions in Facebook ads. You timidly check the promotion options and hey, that’s not so bad…Facebook promises to get your page out to the world and only charges you a few pennies for each actual like!

Ready to start your first page campaign?

Stop.

Don’t even start down that path. I am not saying it won’t work. Believe me it will. I tried it on my first author page and it worked wonders. In a week I had three thousand likes. I felt so famous. Now my posts and especially my Amazon links would reach my trusted readers.

I went on for a few months like that, thinking I would be getting incredible sales anytime now. I didn’t.

None of my posts were getting much engagement. Not even my absolutely hilarious memes. (I have a very high opinion of my sense of humor. The mere thought makes me laugh every time.)

Three thousand followers and maybe five thumbs up for my awesome posts. Not a single link click on “buy my book” posts. Not even when I had a freebie giveaway.

What was happening was that I was not targeting people interested in me as an author or in my books. Despite spending hours refining my audience and reach, I was not reaching the people who click on something they like.

I was reaching a lot of click farms. Click farms are batches of accounts which, through affiliate marketing, get a small portion of money back for liking paid links.

When I realized that, I deleted my page and started from scratch. This time I vowed to never use Facebook page ads again. Instead, I created a second page dedicated to people who like famous authors and genres close to my own writing style. A page dedicated not to buyers, but to fans. I write sci-fi and fantasy humor, so I made a page called “The BookLover’s Guide to the Galaxy” or “BLG2G”. I dedicated some time to that page and watched it grow quickly, from a few dozen to nearly two thousand followers. I never spent a single cent on it.

Oh, and I never invited any of my family members in there either. Those who liked the page simply discovered it because I shared some of the stuff on my personal page.

In the meantime I created my new page, and started sharing some of my material (never buy-me links) to BLG2G. Some followers trickled from there to my author page, where they were able to “discover” my writing style. Just a few dozen, that’s true, but their response to my posts was amazing. Their shares brought a few more likes. I looked at the profiles and saw they were active in many groups dedicated to sci-fi, fantasy and funny stuff.

And here’s the next move: I joined those groups. As my author page where possible.

Whenever I posted something which was in line with the topic of one of those groups, I shared it there. If you are careful and pick the right content, usually a meme, a quote or an interesting link, you have a 99% chance of getting your post approved.

What happens next is better than any Facebook boost: I got likes, hundreds of likes, and next to them, a little button saying “invite”.

That’s right. If you share as your page and someone likes the post, you can invite them to like your page. About 20% – 30% of the people who liked your post will be inclined to accept the invitation. You usually retain 80% of those likes.

I now have about 1,800 page likes on facebook.com/authorlahey, about half of what I originally had with paid likes. But the response is absolutely incredible. Each one of my posts gets hundreds of likes and tens of shares. My average post reach easily hits the thousand mark, and I’ve had a few posts go viral and exceed 300’000 views.

In exchange for this, as a sign of respect for my tribe, I don’t flood them with “buy my book” Amazon links, also because good ‘ole Facebook catches those posts and throttles their visibility. Instead I give insights on my writing, share my absolutely outrageous sense of humor hahahaha, and, of course, some of my free short stories from my author website. As a result, when I’m not reaping invites from the groups I get a steady flow of new followers every day.

In conclusion, fewer is better, get engaged followers, not paid clicks, but make sure your content is worth their attention. Your tribe will reward by liking, sharing and, yes, actually buying your books.

If, while doing all this, you actually remembered to write some.

hahahahahaha.

The basis for this article comes from the Rule 300 concept. You can find more about Rule 300 here.

Don’t forget you can get a free short story just by signing up to my newsletter. You will also be invited to virtual book fairs and get the opportunity to promote your book for FREE and even win a $25 Amazon gift card.

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There’s no beating about the bush. COVID-19 has affected the sales of pretty much everything, from cleaning products to crude oil. Some go up, and some go down. What people believe to be essential goods go up, including, rice, water, hand sanitizer and, for some goofball reason, toilet paper, while all that is thought to be non-essential is left on the shelf.

That includes, of course, fun stuff. In moments of perceived crisis people will lay off the entertainment and focus on the essential needs. They will not buy new entertainment, and focus on what they already have, which includes Netflix and other streaming services, which are going crazy with views. Reading is of course a popular form of entertainment and you’d think that, what with Prime Video and other useful products that get delivered at home, Amazon would also prove to be the go-to place for books. Apparently though, that is not always the case.

Some indie authors are definitely feeling the wind of change regarding the current situation, although it too seems to be blowing in different directions. Some have noticed little change, some have reported dramatic drops and others have tried to make hay while the sun shines and quickly patched up guidebooks on how to survive coronavirus, which were so roguish Amazon decided to restrict their sales.

So what can you do if your book isn’t selling well right now? Surprisingly, the answer is “What does ‘now’ have to do with it?” – wait that’s not an answer, that’s another question. The answer to THAT question is: nothing. Book sales are not a fixed point, they change with the market, with the taste of the readers, with what’s trending in movies or in media. The way Amazon had to actually stop people from throwing their money away on virus survival guidebooks made from copied articles found on the web is a lesson on how fluid the situation can get. So what you CAN do, to answer the original question, is dedicate some time to develop a more solid and constant asset: your brand.

Your brand is what defines you as author. Not just your name or your genre. It is your overall literary footprint. Who do you think about if I say “elves and dwarves?” Tolkien. His fantasy creatures have become the blueprint for all other such characters in fantasy novels. Also, Tolkien actually tweaked the correct plural form “dwarfs” into “dwarves” which is now an acceptable alternative, so he injected his brand in the English language, the sly devil.

What is your brand? A fictional place where all your stories take place, like Pratchett’s Discworld? A strong character which identifies your entire genre, like Sherlock Holmes? A niche genre only you write, such as fantasci-fi fortuitous humor? (Sorry, that one’s taken). If you are not sure about this, your readers will not know how to reach you, they will be drawn to more identifiable brands.

Once your brand is clear, look at your social media. Are you presenting yourself in a way that is coherent with your brand? Will someone who lands on your webpage or your Facebook page know it’s the same author?

Will they just find a long list of posts with Amazon links slapped on to them? Do you know how many indie authors share the “Amazon Link Spammer” brand?

In moments like this, where you’re stuck at home and the grimness of the situation is eroding at creativity and writing moves along slowly, and you look at the sales and (some of you) suddenly wish you hadn’t, dedicate your time to polishing your social brand. Unify your presence on the Internet and make your voice, not your links, be heard. Social networking is more for you, and less for your books, that’s more of a job for websites and newsletters. Once you have defined your identity and made your literary footprint, readers will come to your website and subscribe to your newsletter.

P.S. If you need a little incentive for your writer’s block, check out my article about authors and their egos.

Thanks to author Slaven Vujic for the inspiration.

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Author J.B.Richards had this to say about my short story:

If you read one short story that teaches self-love, tolerance, and acceptance to people of all genders, races, sexual orientations, religious persuasions, and ages, let it be “Asylum”. This short story is most certainly destined to be a children’s classic.

read the full review here

You can find out more about Asylum in my blog post here, which I edited with the new award logo!

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Bad guys these days always seem to share the same DNA: Troubled past, point to prove, fallen hero with twisted principles, good guy going through a bad day, or simply sick bastard looking for revenge. You’ve seen them all and they all do the same dance and make the same mistakes. Of course they need to reveal their plot and complex background, otherwise how would we know how deeply torn and dark their souls were, just before the hero took advantage of their backstory moment to kick their asses straight to hell?

True. Heath Ledger’s Joker was off the record. The character’s unpredictability and ever-changing made-up tale of how he got that scarred smile was thrilling.
For the first twenty minutes, at least.
Then you realize he’s the good guy going through a really bad day, trying to prove the point that everybody goes all killy if you find their breaking point, and he’s still wasting time talking shit to his victims, so cliché all over again.
True, a damn good instance of the cliché, but a cliché nonetheless.

The problem is, we need bad guys, don’t we? Without the antagonist our hero would not accomplish much. It is entirely possible to write a story with no antagonist, but it usually doesn’t end well for the hero. Either the hero falls and turns to evil and then all the forces of good become his enemy and ultimate doom, or the protagonist must face some unknown force of nature, in which case there may be other, multiple (dumb) antagonists who make the hero’s plight even more difficult (read: less boring).
We need villains, but we can’t afford to have them win, so they always have that design flaw don’t they?
The hero is flawed too, of course, but somehow their flaw does not get in their way or, unexpectedly (every single time) turns into their greatest strength.

The villain’s flaw… What if he had none? Could we handle a bad guy who simply goes on with his own evil to-do list, and just doesn’t have time to explain shit to anyone?

Our hero: “There you are Mr. Villain! I will stop your plan, whatever it is. My friends will be here in a mo-“

Mr. Villain: *shoots hero, stuffs him with explosives.*

Hero’s friends, a moment later: “Oh no! Hero is down! You bastard!” *they rush to hero’s body* “Why did you do this?”

Mr. Villain: *toggles detonator* “A’ight. Back to work.”

Not many modern stories could afford a real villain. We seem to like our flawed, broken heroes so much we’d rather dumb down their enemies than have a protagonist we, lowly humans, cannot relate to. Although that is entirely understandable, it is really a sign of our times. We are currently experiencing a period of astoundingly low self-esteem. To the point that we need to believe that we can overcome any bad guy even though our caped savior has PTSD, an alcohol problem and crippling daddy issues.

At the end of the day I believe we need to educate our readers to look up to a better, more capable hero, or at least one who can rely on strong partners (and possibly a shitload of luck) and put them against a seriously reallistic villain. I’m not saying it hasn’t been done. I’m saying I can’t come up with a decent example right now. But I can blame my crippling writer’s block.

Don’t forget to check out my other articles on writing as well as the many other goodies here on ilahey.com. Oh and please consider subscribing. it took me ages to set up the damn newsletter system.

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So you’re an indie author, right?

Well congrats, pat on the shoulder and get in line with the others. Good luck for your whatever fiction/nonfiction. Sell loads. Right?

Hell no. A thousand times no. That’s not how this works.

You are an author. Stop. Yes, you are, look at me. You have a story, you are telling it or, bless your creative soul, you have actually managed it to put it all down in words. With decent grammar and spelling too.
Well, congratulations, that already puts you on a higher plane. Editing? Publishing? Making money and quitting your crapjob? That commercial shit is of no consequence at all. Trust me and keep reading.

You are an author, creator of worlds. You make people. You give them life and their lives influence other people. Their stories improve lives.
What’s that look on your face? No. I’m not crazy, though I may be a bit drunk, but let us not be distracted by that. What we need to focus on is the effort I am putting in here to get you to focus on one, essential point. It is not a simple concept so I will break it down for you:

ONE: You are narrative

I’m not talking about your book, silly. I’m talking about you. Your essence, what makes you you, is an amazing little part of your brain called “The Interpreter” (I reserve the rights to write a whole trilogy based on that title) whose job is to gather all your most relevant thoughts and turn them into a story. A story about you. That’s what you are. You are you telling yourself your story. Think about it, this is the part of your story when you realize, as you read this, that you’re telling yourself about your realization.
You can make your own story, just own your narrative.

One rule. You can’t lie to yourself.

TWO: You need that ego to be BIG

I’m telling you this because you have to realize you are allowed to feel good about it. More than that. You need to be absolutely convinced that you are the best damned author in the universe. Because this magic comes at a price, and the price is that you cannot allow yourself to doubt one second, or your creation will suffer. You are the best. boast about it.

But not in my presence or I shall be compelled to challenge you to a duel, to the death.

THREE: People will hate what you write

It’s inevitable. You can’t meet everyone’s tastes, so negative reviews will be unavoidable. They do not diminish you nor your work. Focus on the fans, and forget the others. To tell you the truth, you shouldn’t even judge those who disliked your book just because it wasn’t suitable for them.

Except for Andrew, who gave me three stars, Die in a fire Andrew.

FOUR: You have serious responsibility

Don’t take your work lightly. It is never “Just a story”. As I said, narrative is at the core of reality. You influence your readers’ perception of the world. Motorola invented clamshell phones because one of the engineers was a Star Trek fan.

FIVE: Nobody else will tell that story

If you have an awesome book lodged between your ears, and for some reason you keep it to yourself, it will be lost forever. No use ‘giving’ the idea to someone else. They will not tell it the same way. It is your duty.

In conclusion:

One of the main reasons for writer’s block is not believing you are up to the task. Authors box themselves into a corner of insecurity thinking they will never match the awesome greatness of the great names. You become your own greatest obstacle. You tell yourself the story of your failure.

Stop that nonsense.

You write. You sway the hearts and minds of people. Whatever you write there is a public waiting for your words. Lead them. Inspire them.

As I did with you.

Awesomeness.

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What is writing to you? Is it a form of therapy, a necessity, a productive hobby or your main source of income? The way we write can, sometimes, be defined by the answer to that question.

The hobby writer has a life, a family and a job. Writing’s fun. Selling your book is a nice surprise and the extra money can be a nice bonus for, say, a night out or a new collar for Jerome, the fictitious labrador.

The professional writer has a life and a job as well. Both of them revolve around writing. Selling books is what you do and the money, good money, feeds you, your family and Jerome. It also fuels the constant investment in advertising, especially online, without which the books would quickly lose ranks and visibility, drowned by the millions of indie competitors out there.

The therapy writer’s a mess. Writing may or may not be something you enjoy doing. You do it because it either keeps you sane, it shuts the voices up or, simply, is the one thing that gives you a nice buzz. Money’s nice, yeah, rankings and all that, but what you really care about is getting the story out of your head before it explodes, killing the evil characters and making all the other characters happy so they stop arguing with you about who else you should have killed. Also that damn fictitious dog keeps barking so now Jerome’s a cat.

With me so far? Good. What happens then when the writing stops? When the unmentionable, unthinkable, abominable beast with a blank screen face and Facebook thumbs for hands: Writer’s Block, Bane of all Writers, Devourer of Sequels and inexorably immune to all those “you should be writing” memes, hits?

The hobby writer doesn’t give a damn, does he? Happy soul. He’ll take up golfing or gardening. Jerome will get cheaper kitty snacks and, now that he’s a cat, no need to buy those shit baggies too. Hobby writer has it all.

Professional writer is in a bit of a squeeze. New books need to turn out or sales will slowly start to decline and then, below a certain threshold, marketing expenses will not be sustainable. The professional writer is smart though: old books can be presented again in shiny new covers, maybe a boxed set with a new foreword. Oblivion can be forestalled long enough to snap back out of the momentary phase. Because it is momentary, just a phase. Inspiration will come. You got this.

Therapy writer’s basically screwed. Writer’s block doesn’t shut the characters up. It pisses them off. Imagine watching a film where the actors suddenly run out of script and start staring at you from the screen instead. And you can’t turn it off because it’s a cinema and now the audience is grumbling too.

Also, Jerome wants out.

So the therapy writer has to deal with an angry mob of imaginary characters picketing outside the imaginary cinema, together with the imaginary readers, (and if you have real readers who start emailing you because they’re waiting for your next book, you’re really up the creek), and a growing sense of guilt and utter uselessness which makes it even harder to snap out of the block.

You convince yourself you’re a fraud. You can’t write, and even if you do, nobody reads your shit anyway.

Luckily there is a way out, a therapy. And therapy writers feel right at home with that. We just sit in front of the keyboard and tap out whatever’s on our minds. No planning, no editing.

Write about what you had for breakfast, about the stunning attractive person you exchanged glances with on the bus on the way from work.

Write about writing.

Blog about it. You’ll feel better, because you can.

It works.

Meow.

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