Greetings, wary travelers. I know it’s supposed to be weary travelers, but this is Unsafe Haven. Wary is appropriate.
I have a hodge-podge post for you today.
National Novel Writing Month is over…for the vast majority of writers. In December, I’m trying to keep the words flowing. Meaning I will still be fairly scarce on the forums and Twitter and my favorite blogs. Feel free to email me if you need me.
I did not live up to my promise to release a fantasy or urban fantasy story in November, mostly because I was so busy writing that it was suddenly the end of the month, and I hadn’t commissioned a cover. I’ll try to remedy that in December and figure out where to slip in the extra release so that I don’t miss the intended release date for the collection I’m planning for February of 2012.
Fair warning: the pen name project is still growing like Cartman’s Trapper Keeper, so that has to be my priority for awhile. To further complicate matters, I’m launching a small press months (if not years) earlier than I had intended. There’s just way too much interest to let it wait.
My approach to Unsafe Haven is also going to change a bit. When it comes right down to it, I’m not blogging here to sell you books. I’m here to have some fun and chat about my projects and maybe share some snippets and post Youtube videos of my favorite new music or anything else I think is cool. So, basically, Unsafe Haven has just become my living room. Not my social platform. Not a branding tool. But a place for people to come visit me and have a decaf Americano and find out if I’m listening to or reading anything good and what cool Norse myth I’m currently toying with for the norn series.
I’m also open to suggestions. This is an "exploring my blog identity" period.
Today I shall end with a gritty garage rock song that never should have been allowed on a Twilight soundtrack. They used something like four or five seconds of it in the train wreck called New Moon. Waste of a good song.
Personally, I prefer the idea of your blog as your living room, but I guess that's also because I told like to be sold to. Does that make sense? I'd rather sit around, sip on caff'd Americanos (gimme all the caffeine, please!), and chat with writerly peeps whom I'm lucky to call friends.
ReplyDeleteNow, all that being said, you'd better tell us when we can buy something. Because we're nothing if not supportive!
And finally, I'd be interested in knowing more about your small press. Why are you starting one? What was the motivation? What are your hopes? You know, all that stuff.
Heya, TL! I'm glad you like the living room idea. Make yourself comfy, and you can have my share of the caffeine!
ReplyDeleteI'm doing the small press for a couple of reasons. My eye-opening experience over the last couple of months (with a great deal of info shared by some very generous and successful writers) has shown me that there's a HUGE amount of money to be made in small press and self-publishing, especially if a business knows how to cherry pick the best aspects of both. It also opens up an immigration avenue for me in my planned move to the UK.
What are my hopes? Give some close friends a needed income stream and mobility. Give myself even more income and mobility. The challenge and satisfaction of building something successful, of seeing certain concepts applied and how well they do, making necessary course corrections, etc.
The upside for me is that I'm not doing it alone. I'm just the creative director. My partner and the company secretary will handle the financial and less creative aspects of running the business, leaving me time to work with the writers and for my own writing.
My partner is a major go-getter, which is why we have a half dozen writers lined up already.
You are doing so well! World, you're just going to have to keep getting ready for Ms. Lerwill!
ReplyDeleteI also like the living room idea. (I'll bring the cookies!)
ReplyDeleteI am very interested in your small press. Will you be posting more info on it? Specifically, if it will be for certain genres, or catering to all genres.
Heya, Elizabeth! Thank you, thank you. I hope you're recovering well from your STELLAR NaNo performance.
ReplyDeleteHey there, cookie! I probably will post more about the small press, once I've gotten some titles for our current authors up and moving. We're going to start exclusively with erotic romance and erotica, but several of the authors also write speculative fiction and have asked if that's something we'd consider. That's a definite yes, though we need focus on the first imprint for at least a few months.