12th July 2016 | for Creatives | novel writing, writing, reaching your audience, value the art, Lucienne Diver, series writing |
"I don't think an author should try specifically to write a series (or a stand-alone) due to any idea of the market. A concept either cries out to be written over the course of several books with a story arc big enough to support it—some threads that tie up satisfyingly in each book with others that demand more time and effort to resolve—or it doesn't. Writing two books where one is called for or three where a duology would do only means there's a sagging middle somewhere."
"I do believe that making one's book free remains an effective way to reach new readers who might not otherwise take a chance on your book. I've had a number of positive reviews from readers who said they liked my book but would never have downloaded if it weren't free. I do not agree with the argument that an author who makes his book free is inviting bad reviews from those readers who are trying a novel that is not in their preferred genre and may be less inclined to like it. I believe a good book is a good book, and anything you can do to attract a new reader is worthwhile."
"As an artist, you want as many people to see your work as possible with no compromise. .... I don't want to .... have it watered down, and follow a soap opera, and have all the edges filed down and have someone interfere. .... Delivering the exact thing that I made ... that's so important to me, you know, that's, I said, the ideal of the most beautiful and purest thing. And it's how little it can be ruined from your brain to the observer. And that's the way you do everything yourself, really, because, you know, I've probably only produced and directed to protect my writing, the idea, you know?"
"I think books should be cheaper. I want books to be accessible. If books are precious (and as a result, expensive), then publishers win, readers lose, and by proxy, writers lose, too."
"You don't need to line someone else's pockets to show off your writing skills. It's easy enough to set up your own blog and display your talents there or to write carefully crafted pitches that make editors want to assign you stories even if you are a newbie. (That's how I got my start.)"
"If you do care about having a go at this writing thing as a proper career, do not write for exposure. Exposure cannot be measured, and you might as well write for any number of invisible things: the dreams of sleeping kittens, perhaps, or mystical unicorn turds. You should always be getting something measurable for your writing."
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