2012... the year of writing by Jim Bronyaur
Another year has ended, and another has begun. Through the thinking, planning, partying, and enjoying the idea of something so new waiting ahead, we cannot forget last year, the year before that, or the past in general.
Let’s go back to January 1, 2011.
I knew it was going to be a big year… I just didn’t know how.
I was literally sitting on 500,000 words of written novels and stories and they had no home. I felt lost and confused until something happened. I can’t explain it – how or why – but for the first time ever in my life I took notice to this thing called a “Kindle”.
After purchasing my Kindle and devouring book after book with ease, I realized this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to have ebooks for sale. Fast forward two months and I’m sitting in Borders Café writing like a mad man again, writing and editing I should say, preparing for what would be my first book.
In April I hit “publish” for the first time.
In June, my wife and I decided it was time to really fulfill our dreams. I started a publishing company which would allow me to work on my own, with other writers, in different genres, etc. I could do what I wanted when I wanted to do it.
Let’s head back to the present now and here I am sitting on the same computer from last year, still writing.
We have almost 50 titles published across many genres and December gave us record sales.
We are teetering on the verge of survival money… think about that. In just one year, I’ve gone from confused to concentrated.
How did I do it?
I stuck to a plan, one that began with writing.
I bring this up because New Year’s is when we all set resolutions.
Lose some weight, change our diet, yes, that’s all fine and true. For writers, we usually go for something like being published or writing more.
A resolution is a goal, and a goal should be obtainable with some hard work and a sense of reality.
In the current state of publishing, whether you’re in traditional or not, nothing means more than words. I say that because I’ve seen it myself how fast things and those who keep up are the ones who keep writing. I personally believe the days of writing and promoting for a year are long gone. Today’s world sees a book come out and you better be handing in the next one too.
You could look at someone prolific and big like James Patterson. He is the epitome of writing. He writes in different genres and the production doesn’t stop. That’s someone to look up to and shoot for. When I was standing in line at the bookstore this weekend I saw three books by Patterson on the same stand: a thriller, a romance novel, and a YA novel.
That’s impressive.
And that’s where I’m heading this year.
My personal resolution is to get into every genre I can find my way in. I’ve done thrillers, horror, gore horror, and even zombies. I even launched a pen name – J Wiz – to sell my middle grade kids horror books. Now it’s time to break out some old books that never saw their fair time of day. I’m talking crime novels, literary fiction novels, maybe even some romance. Oh, and I am finalizing the contract agreement to collaborate with another author for a young adult trilogy.
The publishing world is our plate right now so take advantage of it.
I’ve always dreamed of being involved in many projects and genres at once but was always told to pick one and stick to it. I was told you couldn’t break away and do multiple projects. I never agreed with that idea but I understood it.
Now, I’m in control, and I do what I want.
For those who worry and say ‘Jim, what if someone buys the wrong book? Won’t all the genres mix together in your book list?’
Well, that’s a wonderful question, and it’s not a problem.
I have my name – Jim Bronyaur – and pen names for the different genres. Each book goes up as a sort of collaboration with a pen name. When you see Jack Roth, you know it’s gore. When you see Adler James, you know it’s literary fiction. When you see J Wiz, you know it’s middle grade horror.
Now, enough about my resolutions, let’s talk about yours.
Put writing on the top and stick to it.
Start small to find time and let it build.
Do you need to check Facebook ten times day? Make it nine. Use that time you would have used for the tenth to get some more words in.
Writing is simply about writing.
A couple months ago I set a goal to write more. I started a spreadsheet and have kept track of daily word count since then. It helps me stay motivated. Right now, I average about 30,000 words a week.
Yes, that is correct.
Now, before anyone says something crazy about that, let’s be honest.
I’m a husband and a father. I have two young boys under the age of four. My wife works usually five days a week too. I do not have the luxury of sitting home all day to just write. What I do is maximize the time I get during the day to write.
How?
I outline all my projects in detail.
I keep at least three projects running. That way is Project 1 gets boring or I lose the feel of it, I jump to Project 2. There’s no excuse to NOT be writing.
And that’s what it comes down to for me… there’s no excuse to NOT be writing. Too often I see people worrying so much about forces they can’t control. They try to market too hard. They try to socialize too much for too long. They worry about things that shouldn’t matter. What suffers at the end of the day is their writing and word counts.
Another resolution to set is this: Follow YOUR path, nobody else’s.
We know the story of how Author A sold a million copies by advertising on Site B.
We know the story of how Author B sold a million copies because they kept their books at $0.99.
We know the story of how Author C created a series, made the first book free, and then got rich off the other sales.
Yes, we all know it.
Does that mean it’ll work for you?
No.
Nothing is guaranteed.
Everything that worked last year may not work this year because it’s so different.
Find your own path, embrace it, and follow it.
So let’s leave off here, with a goal to write and a goal to find our own path.
I’ll admit, I didn’t find my path until October 2011.
Then it’ll all clicked.
My path was words. New words, and lots of them. I dropped the nonsense stuff and focused on the writing. Since that time, our sales have gone up about 200%. It’s not a coincidence either.
You control your writing, and you control your path.
Enjoy the control, because there outside things you can’t control. Leave them be outside, and don’t let them bring you down.
Bring the word counts up, write the best story you can, and share it with the world.
I welcome anyone to email me at JimBronyaur@gmail.com and let me know what your resolutions are and how you’re going about them. Keep in touch with me, I’ll keep you motivated.
Because at the end of the day, if you’re a writer, you have one job: to write.
__
Jim Bronyaur is an award winning horror author. Follow him on Twitter @JimBronyaur. His site is www.JimBronyaur.com where you can find all his books.
Let’s go back to January 1, 2011.
I knew it was going to be a big year… I just didn’t know how.
I was literally sitting on 500,000 words of written novels and stories and they had no home. I felt lost and confused until something happened. I can’t explain it – how or why – but for the first time ever in my life I took notice to this thing called a “Kindle”.
After purchasing my Kindle and devouring book after book with ease, I realized this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to have ebooks for sale. Fast forward two months and I’m sitting in Borders Café writing like a mad man again, writing and editing I should say, preparing for what would be my first book.
In April I hit “publish” for the first time.
In June, my wife and I decided it was time to really fulfill our dreams. I started a publishing company which would allow me to work on my own, with other writers, in different genres, etc. I could do what I wanted when I wanted to do it.
Let’s head back to the present now and here I am sitting on the same computer from last year, still writing.
We have almost 50 titles published across many genres and December gave us record sales.
We are teetering on the verge of survival money… think about that. In just one year, I’ve gone from confused to concentrated.
How did I do it?
I stuck to a plan, one that began with writing.
I bring this up because New Year’s is when we all set resolutions.
Lose some weight, change our diet, yes, that’s all fine and true. For writers, we usually go for something like being published or writing more.
A resolution is a goal, and a goal should be obtainable with some hard work and a sense of reality.
In the current state of publishing, whether you’re in traditional or not, nothing means more than words. I say that because I’ve seen it myself how fast things and those who keep up are the ones who keep writing. I personally believe the days of writing and promoting for a year are long gone. Today’s world sees a book come out and you better be handing in the next one too.
You could look at someone prolific and big like James Patterson. He is the epitome of writing. He writes in different genres and the production doesn’t stop. That’s someone to look up to and shoot for. When I was standing in line at the bookstore this weekend I saw three books by Patterson on the same stand: a thriller, a romance novel, and a YA novel.
That’s impressive.
And that’s where I’m heading this year.
My personal resolution is to get into every genre I can find my way in. I’ve done thrillers, horror, gore horror, and even zombies. I even launched a pen name – J Wiz – to sell my middle grade kids horror books. Now it’s time to break out some old books that never saw their fair time of day. I’m talking crime novels, literary fiction novels, maybe even some romance. Oh, and I am finalizing the contract agreement to collaborate with another author for a young adult trilogy.
The publishing world is our plate right now so take advantage of it.
I’ve always dreamed of being involved in many projects and genres at once but was always told to pick one and stick to it. I was told you couldn’t break away and do multiple projects. I never agreed with that idea but I understood it.
Now, I’m in control, and I do what I want.
For those who worry and say ‘Jim, what if someone buys the wrong book? Won’t all the genres mix together in your book list?’
Well, that’s a wonderful question, and it’s not a problem.
I have my name – Jim Bronyaur – and pen names for the different genres. Each book goes up as a sort of collaboration with a pen name. When you see Jack Roth, you know it’s gore. When you see Adler James, you know it’s literary fiction. When you see J Wiz, you know it’s middle grade horror.
Now, enough about my resolutions, let’s talk about yours.
Put writing on the top and stick to it.
Start small to find time and let it build.
Do you need to check Facebook ten times day? Make it nine. Use that time you would have used for the tenth to get some more words in.
Writing is simply about writing.
A couple months ago I set a goal to write more. I started a spreadsheet and have kept track of daily word count since then. It helps me stay motivated. Right now, I average about 30,000 words a week.
Yes, that is correct.
Now, before anyone says something crazy about that, let’s be honest.
I’m a husband and a father. I have two young boys under the age of four. My wife works usually five days a week too. I do not have the luxury of sitting home all day to just write. What I do is maximize the time I get during the day to write.
How?
I outline all my projects in detail.
I keep at least three projects running. That way is Project 1 gets boring or I lose the feel of it, I jump to Project 2. There’s no excuse to NOT be writing.
And that’s what it comes down to for me… there’s no excuse to NOT be writing. Too often I see people worrying so much about forces they can’t control. They try to market too hard. They try to socialize too much for too long. They worry about things that shouldn’t matter. What suffers at the end of the day is their writing and word counts.
Another resolution to set is this: Follow YOUR path, nobody else’s.
We know the story of how Author A sold a million copies by advertising on Site B.
We know the story of how Author B sold a million copies because they kept their books at $0.99.
We know the story of how Author C created a series, made the first book free, and then got rich off the other sales.
Yes, we all know it.
Does that mean it’ll work for you?
No.
Nothing is guaranteed.
Everything that worked last year may not work this year because it’s so different.
Find your own path, embrace it, and follow it.
So let’s leave off here, with a goal to write and a goal to find our own path.
I’ll admit, I didn’t find my path until October 2011.
Then it’ll all clicked.
My path was words. New words, and lots of them. I dropped the nonsense stuff and focused on the writing. Since that time, our sales have gone up about 200%. It’s not a coincidence either.
You control your writing, and you control your path.
Enjoy the control, because there outside things you can’t control. Leave them be outside, and don’t let them bring you down.
Bring the word counts up, write the best story you can, and share it with the world.
I welcome anyone to email me at JimBronyaur@gmail.com and let me know what your resolutions are and how you’re going about them. Keep in touch with me, I’ll keep you motivated.
Because at the end of the day, if you’re a writer, you have one job: to write.
__
Jim Bronyaur is an award winning horror author. Follow him on Twitter @JimBronyaur. His site is www.JimBronyaur.com where you can find all his books.
