Too many books, not enough time to write them

Are you a writer? Do you have endless books in your head, as I do? Or do you prefer to read the writings of others, something I also enjoy but which often leads me to the former. Being a writer can be irritating sometimes, especially when you have so many ideas and so little time. I want to take another three months out of my freelance soon and write my next book, or at least get it started.

But what book?

I have just posted my two completed Ghostwriter mystery books, Killer Twist and A Plot To Die For on Smashwords, but I have a third one already in the pipeline. It was originally intended as book number two, before A Plot To Die For swept into my imagination and took over. Loosely dubbed Last Writes, it's a cracking tale, one I desperately want to complete. I'm about 10,000 wds in. I know exactly how it will go. I might as well finish it.

But I have this other idea, see, that's just as intoxicating to me as a writer. It's a whole new crime mystery series called The Agatha Christie Book Club (see earlier posts). I am also 10,000 words into that, and it excites me even more than the ghostwriter books. It's just fresher, I guess, and has more marketing potential. So I would like to re-focus on that, if only to clinch the idea which I think is a corker. (Why hasn't anyone ever thought of it before?)

What do you think? Stick with the first series, extend that portfolio of titles? Or launch into something new?

All comments/critiques/advice most welcome. Anyone?

xo C.

Smashed at last

Almost exactly a month after my first attempt to upload my first ebook, Killer Twist (A Ghostwriter Mystery), to Smashwords (SW), I have finally succeeded, and not because I'm technologically savvy, I hasten to add. After formatting it in accordance with SW's Style Guide (three hours and a lot of sweat later), and adding a slick cover courtesy of designer Stuart Eadie, I pressed the publish button and expected instant success. My how delusional I was!

It didn't convert. Hmmm.

I tried a million different methods, I took out bolds and italics, I reformatted — no mean feat I can tell you— and tried again. Still no luck. And the stream of cries for help that I sent SW largely went unanswered (when they did bother to get back to me, they contained no useful tips at all. Just told me to try again. Duh!).

The problem with SW, as far as I can tell, is that if you have so much as a tab out of place the whole file does not convert. You have to get the formatting exact. Whatever I had done, it was clearly NOT exact. (Another problem with SW is the fact that it's free. I don't want to pay for it, don't get me wrong, but perhaps if I had, they may have responded to me faster and more effectively?)

I was left feeling frustrated, demoralised and pitifully low—it takes so long to write a book, edit it, get a cover designed, and let go of the whole, dreamy idea of ever finding a 'real' publisher, that when you finally decide to self-publish an ebook you just want the friggin thing to work! For a whole month it just wouldn't. My cover uploaded, it looked fabulous. But they kept rejecting my book.

Was this an omen?

Eventually I realised that I needed to bring in the Big Guns, or at least accept that I'm a Luddite and hire someone who isn't. Enter Amy Siders from US-based formatting business 52 Novels. We love her now! For a mere $45 (AUS$43), she formatted it in less than 10 days and got it back to me. At first, it still didn't work and I was beyond tearful. DAMN IT! Then I realised it had page breaks—a SW no-no—so she redid it immediately and PRESTO!

It's up. It's on the SW website.

Or, at least, it will be when they read through and approve. Right now you can search for it and find it, download it and buy it. But I guess it won't come up on the main menu for a few days. Fair enough. Someone has to manually check for errors, inappropriate language etc etc.

But the process has finally begun. Oh hail the ebook, and may I sell at least one!

xo Christina

Pssst! Wanna buy a book?

As Smashwords (SW) continues to thwart me—more on that, later—I have now made my books available via a new website. Thanks to Wix (slow but super-easy and so much to teach SW), I have set up my new website: christinalarmer.com and am happy with it. It's slicker than larmermedia.com.au, but that wouldn't be hard. That was my first attempt, via five convoluted adult education classes in Byron. The result: a sad looking site that has done the job, but only just.

Now I have a place where you can purchase a few of my books (oh eager reader you). Go to the site, click on the Purchase Books button and help yourself! I have the PNG book for sale as well as the first in my Roxy Parker GhostWriter mystery series and, coming soon, the second book in the series.

http://www.christinalarmer.com/

Happy reading.

xo