Continue reading »]]> I usually write my blog posts at the end of the day. This is because I use it as a wrap-up, a way to spit out a few thoughts that I’ve had, and a mental note to myself that I’m done with the day. Right now, I’ve had a brainstorm issue I want to get out right away. I’ve considered it several times but it’s bugging me right now. Here’s the anecdote:

A company I worked with in a former life is having a Twitter problem. This Twitter problem is caused by changes in their client tools and it’s one they obviously haven’t noticed. I recognize the problem because I’ve had it myself. I attempted to contact their social media team via Direct Message; I didn’t want to public tweet it because I don’t want to put egg on their faces. I’m fond of this company, even if I haven’t directly worked with them for years.

I could not send this Direct Message because they don’t follow me back. I glanced at their website, didn’t see the email address of people I know, and gave up. I’d invested more time in the company than your average consumer would, anyway.

A lot of people put credibility stock in their own follow/followed ratio. They like to follow a few people, but be followed by many. These people think it makes them look cool.

That’s bullshit. If you’re running a business and you want to serve your customers (or if you want someone to be able to talk to you), you should follow them back. Let me put it plainly: your customers cannot contact you via DM on Twitter if you don’t follow them. That’s all the discussion there should be.

And finally, just as damning, social games like “I want to be the coolest kid” have no place in a competitive social media environment. By using Lists, you can manage your incoming stream as easily as by only following a few people.

Not following your followers is a great way to tell someone you don’t give a rat’s ass about them. So follow your followers back.

Continue reading »]]> One of my favorite hobbies is productivity. Seriously, I spend an immense amount of time dwelling on how to be productive, researching techniques, and focusing on things I can do to squeeze a little more oomph out of my day.

My wife is no doubt tired of hearing me babble on about it. No sooner does someone like Lifehacker post a new productivity method before I’m trying it out, screwing around with the method, and seeing how it goes. I wonder around the house in mortal terror of “idling out” and giving up my productivity for any moment of time.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that you need to set yourself up for success. What I mean by that is that you have to constantly make sure you’re making life choices that support productivity and keep your life streamlined.

As a small example, let’s say you want to save time by cutting down on dusting. (Do you dust? I don’t think I really do.) Dusting is a huge waste of time if you can possibly avoid it. So, you want to cut down on dusting.

Now consider that bookshelf. Sure, everyone likes to set out statues and knick-knacks. But every statue is something that needs to be dusted and moved. Stocking that shelf with clutter increases the amount of time you’re dusting.

So when I say “Set yourself up for success,” make the choice to not set out extra clutter. Make choices that keep you focused on your productivity and kicking out a little more work. I’m talking about this “Setting yourself up for success” here first because I plan to talk about it plenty in the future.

Continue reading »]]> A new syndication location has appeared; it’s super effective! Okay, it’s hard to turn “a new syndication partner has run one of my pieces” into a meme, but I had to give it a shot. You can find this piece over at The Saturday Evening Post. While this probably isn’t my most ambitious piece I’ve ever written, it’s nothing but solid, good tips for travelers.

My excitement should be obvious. The Saturday Evening Post traces its history all the way back to Benjamin Franklin, a personal hero of mine. Especially as a Boy Scout, the Rockwellian impact of The Saturday Evening Post could always been felt around my home. It was a family magazine. While we didn’t read it sitting next to each other, obviously, we all shared each issue.

I’m sharing this syndication — and other select syndications — here on this blog so that you can get an idea of where my work appears. I won’t list every time syndicated work appears, obviously, because that could get pretty boring very quickly. Still, it’s good to share.

Continue reading »]]> Well, the web site is finally coming along. That’s a fairly big deal to me; I’m finding myself happier with the colors, getting the widgets together, and otherwise feeling good about it. I know it’s not the same as actually finishing the book, but I just wanted to get a little bit more of this To-Do off my list. I’m odd like that. Also, I got a lot of writing done today and needed a break.

As you probably know at this point, I’m going to be fairly transparent about my adventures in self-publishing. Nor will I be the only one. I have the good fortune of having been curator-published repeatedly in the past, whether in print journalism, online writing, and elsewhere. I’ve always learned a lot from that, but striking out as an independent author is still a little challenging. Now that I have the web site (more or less) out of the way, the path forward feels considerably more clear.

I also picked up this guide to building an online community from a compatriot, and I’ll be spending some time with it over the weekend.

Written today:
Commercial: ~3k
Book based: Zilch. (But I did the web site!)

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My new office is crazy exciting — at least, it is to me. We converted one of the bedrooms into my full-time office. While I loved sharing the office space with the wife, I just don’t work that way. I’m a very heads-down kind of guy. I like to start at the top of a task list and move to the bottom. My beloved wife, on the other hand, is a little more holistic. She takes the entire day at a time; to me, it seems almost like she’s weaving a day full of chaos into some kind of single, meaningful pattern. Blows my mind, man.

Of course, the big recent success is this sexy standing desk over here. My office contains that standing desk, the stool, a little cart to hold a music player, and an old, plush Laz-E-Boy recliner we bought at the thrift store for 8 bucks. I’m a thrifty kind of guy. But the second rule of freelance is that you don’t spend money you don’t have to. I’m pretty thrilled with how the desk turned, and am happy with the office in general. I’m not completely sold on the chair being perfect yet, but I admit that I can be kind of picky about that sort of thing. I think that when I finally get around to buying a “real” chair for the office, the sales folks will have to deal with me sitting in the store, working on the chair for a few hours first. Still, that’s not so bad for a commission, right?

Commercial: A little over 15k
Independent: A little over 1k

So, a productive week … but I need to do a lot more next week.

Continue reading »]]> With the holidays over, I’ve spent a lot of time getting caught up this week at Tecca, WoW Insider, and elsewhere. Like so many others in the industry, I’ll have an exciting new project announcement to release soon. That one’s not a book, and it’s probably obvious to most people who follow my work … but it’ll be a sexy little announcement nonetheless.

As for current writing? This is a weekly total, including up through today. This is a self-motivational tool, so I’m being honest here. The word count on Whispered isn’t really the relevant portion. I’m writing it in story format — the story is very fleshed out, and it’s rolling forward. Because of my writing style, the page count will be more relevant to readers. And trust me … huge value for the money. My mind’s blown. So the point here is that I keep track of the word count as a way of keeping myself moving forward.

Commercial: 7k this week
Whispered: 12k this week

Continue reading »]]> As I sit here by the fire, ensconced in the warm glow of a fire and a little oatmeal stout, I reflect back on the holidays. Sure, they’re not quite over yet; this weekend is New Year’s Eve, and it’s not like I won’t be traveling in celebration. (Nothing fancy, just visiting some relatives in Pennsylvania.)

The good side of the holidays is that I got to see family. A lot of family, from both my wife’s and my own side of the tree. This is a great thing. Our relatives are spread (literally) all over the country and beyond. They reach as far as Singapore. That makes the little excuses to get together beyond simply “critical.”

The down side is that I haven’t gotten nearly as much work done as I want. I’m sitting here staring at Scrivener wondering where the last two weeks went. The answer is that they were swallowed by Christmas and a funeral, but that’s not satisfying when I want to get the new book on the shelves out the door. Still, realities must be dealt with.

For anyone keeping score: I wrote 10k words this week commercially, a mere 1k on literary pursuits. I’m lagging way behind. The holidays have been beautiful, but there’s more than a small part of me that’s desperately ready to engage back into the normal.

Continue reading »]]> The site is behind the rest of my work. I’ve been focusing on writing, spreading the word, and talking to people; this site is not yet as beautiful as I’d like it to be. And you know what? I’m doing it on purpose.

In years past, I’ve made the mistake of waiting for everything to be perfect. But with so many obligations (my writing appears on a half-dozen professional sites at least, many dozen unprofessional ones, and hundreds of plagiarism sites), that time could be a long way off. I get so focused on finding just the right site, just the right look, and so many other things that I never get the hell off the ground.

In the last month, Kat and I have been brutal about exorcising any obligation from our life that doesn’t directly lead to our success. While we still make time to see friends and family, we’re careful to avoid obligating ourselves into not working. What we do takes a lot of time, and we have to manage the most precious resource very carefully.

So, the site’s not perfect yet. But it will be soon.

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Image via buildyourwings.com

What’s more important? The design or the content? The content, hands down. I will be posting my daily word counts here, both for novel and for commercial work. (I’m counting Phat Loot Phriday as commercial work. I love the boys, but they’re not the novel.)

I still need to do some changes to the blog, though. I’m not happy with the default widget boxes on the right. I like the rounded edges, as that reminds me a lot of my beloved iPhone interfaces. But it’s just not attractive as is.

What’s that you say? This is a filler post? That’s a goddamned lie.

This has been my favorite holiday season in years. Kat and I are both home, we have exciting family things going on, and we’re expecting a lot more from ourselves in the next year. Neither of us are really TV people, or even really video game people. (We play video games, but not with passion. I’m into the culture, but not the game.) The most exciting bit is that, thanks to our work with Tecca and WoW Insider, we both get to be home. And while we’re not doing much at home besides work, work, and more work … we can at least do it together.

Novel: 1,010
Commercial: 2,250

Continue reading »]]> Here we are! For better or for worse, it was time to move this blog and functionality to the top level of the site. It was a little silly to keep having that click-through graphic menu from 2 years ago. Don’t get me wrong — I thought it was cute. Just won’t work going forward.

Stay tuned! Actually, don’t stay tuned. That’s really more of a reminder to myself. Assuming I do a good job of doing a good job, I’ll be updating to this or Fenceposts and Faerie Wings nearly every day. I’m hoping that as Kat and I support one another with these endeavors, we’ll continue to succeed.

Thanks to J. Lathrop for the theme tip. Graphene really got the job done for me; I’ll be donating to the programmer.