Hey guys. It’s been a while, I know. Though it’s not obvious
from the number of posts on this blog, I have been busy, and I believe the
busy-ness will become evident very soon.
In a nutshell, I’ve spent the past several months working on
expanding and developing Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, especially from a marketing
perspective. What this means in the short term is that two books are being made
ready for publication this year, with the possibility of a third also (though
that one may run into 2018).
I’ve also been rethinking my blogging. Not just my schedule
but also my purpose.
When I launched Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, my goal was to
help unknown writers earn publication and begin to develop an audience. I’m
very proud to have been the first publisher of fiction for more than a dozen
writers these past five years. I’ve actually never sat down and counted them
all; it could be upwards of twenty debut fiction authors.
That accomplishment – both mine and theirs -- has been on my
mind as I’ve considered what my blogging should be about. There are a lot
of writing blogs out there, and I know I don’t read as many as I used to. So
why would anyone want to read mine? Well, I don’t know that they will, frankly.
And that’s ok, because creating and building an audience takes time.
Writing is what I do. It’s what I’ve always done – before,
during, and after the creation of EBP. These days, I’m not only a writer. I’m
an editor, a publisher, at times a songwriter and musician. And increasingly
I’m feeling confident that what we’ve been trying to do with EBP is the right
thing for writers.
Let’s face it, publishing these days is a heck of a lot
easier than it used to be, but building an audience is hard. Very, very
hard. There’s so much out there. You’ve probably heard that a lot of it is
garbage. To a degree, that’s true. But then that’s always been true.
What’s different is I’ve gotten know a lot more writers now,
and the submissions I’ve gotten over the past five years always turn up several
gems. Some of the submissions my review teams have rejected were stories I
kinda enjoyed, even if too many of those relied on tired old tropes.
From now on, my blogging goal is to build something aimed at
helping authors develop an audience. As I said, it’s a big part of what EBP has
been about since the beginning, and if this company is going to be something I
can expand and possibly even give to my daughters one day, then that topic
needs to remain its focus going forward.
How will I do that? To be honest, I’m sure that’s going to
evolve, too. I’ll write about author marketing -- the tried and true as well as
the new. I don’t have all the answers, because smart new questions are being
asked every day. But I’ve spent the past blurdy-blurdy years interviewing
leaders of nonprofit organizations all over the country (and outside the U.S.,
too) about building constituencies, movements, followings; I am confident I can
share lessons learned over that time.
One way I’ll do that is by interviewing authors about what
they’re doing and what’s working for them. I’ll discuss things like covers
(because there are a lot of
crappy covers out there. Yeeesh!), and I’ll provide my own experience with
certain products to help other authors learn from my experience.
When my friends and I created the late, beloved blog From
the Write Angle, the goal was to provide authors lessons from those of us
slightly higher up the ladder. In a way, that’s the goal on this blog, too, and
with this publishing company. I may even have some guest posts from some of my
FTWA co-conspirators.
So, I invite you to check out my updated blog. It’s actually
going to be at the EBP site – in fact, you’ll see this post there, too. And if
you like what you see, please sign up for my newsletter. I’ll use many of the
usual techniques – free stuff, newsletter-only exclusives, etc. – I hope you’ll
come to back because you’ll want to read the items I’ll be sharing. So, take a
look. And let me know what you like and what you don’t. Let’s get the
conversation going.
