Self-publishing

Hi, my name is Richard and I'm a self-published author.

There, I said it.

I self-published because I wanted my book done the way I wanted it.

I also didn't want the rejection from publishing houses who I believed wouldn't take on my book anyway. As I said in another blog, children's books were not what I had imagined when I began writing.

Chris Norman's painting changed all of that. I had read a ton of books as a child and read to my own children a lot. I knew children's books and I knew there were some terrible books published and sitting in bookstores right now.

I believed in my story, if not my style - at first. However, as I said, I had seen a lot of awful books. Of course, it was the great ones which inspired my story-telling. I grew up reading the magic of Enid Blyton's work. The unforgettable characters and stories. Lines of text I can still recall years later.
Enid is my biggest influence in children's writing.

I happened upon self-publishing by chance, seeing the link on Amazon for CreateSpace. I went in eyes closed at first, but slowly learnt and adapted to the industry.

I purchased ISBN numbers and created my own publishing company. I learnt to design professional covers and bought the necessary software. It is here where I should state, clearly, that self-publishing is NOT the expensive deal it is made out to be. The author decides how much she spends and on what. I spent nothing at first and then everything I did spend out on, I was able to do so with profits gained from the first few sales.

Having self-published, I felt pride when my book appeared on Amazon and Goodreads. I watched the first few sales roll in - from family and friends. My mother turned out to be quite the salesperson for me!

It was one milestone after another as I got my first sale, first non-family sale, first review, first pay-check, first school visit. I was featured in the local newspaper as I searched for my teacher who inspired me.

I was prepared for my book not to sell beyond the first few weeks, but sales continue to surprise me. Chris has done an excellent job of keeping me grounded, I owe him so much.

Sales are everything and they are a slippery beast; seemingly impossible to predict. This is the part that no-one warns you about. Marketing and sales techniques that work for one author, may not work for you.

The only sure-fire way I have found to sell is to attend an event. A school visit or a festival.

At Dickens Festival in the winter, sales were good and sales following a school visit are usually great.

I write for myself, the books I want to read - or wanted to read as a kid. But the wonderful thing about actually publishing is that I get to see how my audience responds to my work. That's invaluable and something I would not get writing for adults. Even if I could read to adults, which sounds hideous(!), they would not be honest, not like children!

Following dreams is so important. I have many people who either don't support me or don't care one way or the other. It would be easy to simply give up. I could never stop writing, but I could stop publishing. However, I have an audience now, actual real life fans who want my next book. That is everything.

This year, I had a plan to get into bookstores and so far, I am struggling. My self-published status is holding me back. Even though there is plenty of published tripe sitting in bookstores just waiting for new victims. I know my books are better than some of the others. That's why I will continue to fight the label and fight for bookstore rights handed to other books whose stories are lame, rehashed or just plain boring.

My books are unique and special, I just have to make more people see that.

Outlining A Plot

I have always been an author; and yet never been an author. Now, of course, I am officially, undeniably, an author.

What I mean is, I have always written books. I may not have finished them, but I wrote. A lot. If anyone asked what I did though, I would never say author.
I am slowly learning that I can now say that writing is my profession. And it is true...for the most part. I have made money from selling words that I have written. I am proud of that. Even if some days I think I do not deserve it, or anybody could have done it. When I read my book or I see it on Amazon, I am proud.
People have began to stop me and say they saw me in the paper, or congratulations on the book. And that is nice. I write not for acknowledgement or riches, those things are added bonuses! But I write mainly to keep myself sane-ish! I recently had a book review from an 8 year-old who had read the entire book to his 5 year old sister. They loved it and asked when there will be more Fluffy. That is my greatest achievement as an author so far. An unbiased review from my target audience.

I realise that we are off topic, and it's kinda my fault. I hold my hands up.

See, I was making a point, when I write, I develop characters and maybe a situation. Then I begin writing. Many thousands of writers will say this is wrong and you must plan, plan, plan. That does not work for me, in children's books anyway. I prefer to set my mind free and see where the characters take the story. My recent work has been based on my friend's paintings, so I create a loose idea of the character and run with it to make it exciting for children. I like to stay relevant and not alienate my audience, so I make my characters as real as possible - and if they are animals - as human as possible.

I will write key points of the story down, to refer to. But that is the extent of my planning.
My advice is simple; do not do what someone tells you to - do what works. Try everything to see which fits best. Planning bores me and takes my inspiration away leaving me in a vacuum of nothingness. I like to dream, bus rides are great for working out the next scene or two. Or walking, I love to walk.

Of course, if I am working on a novel, planning is key. Having a cheat sheet or two for characters, setting and plot can be a life-saver. One of my biggest projects has around 30 different Word documents aside from the drafts, of notes and references.

Hope you are all well guys.
Check back with you soon.

Rich

https://www.facebook.com/fluffythemagicpenguin/

Get your Fluffy paperback for just £2.99 or the Kindle version for £1.99 by clicking the link. Alternatively, Fluffy is...

Posted by Fluffy the Magic Penguin on Sunday, 10 January 2016

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fluffy-Hugs-Magic-Penguin/dp/1519517726/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452621179&sr=1-1&keywords=fluffy+hugs

Balancing Life & Writing

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans
John Lennon


This quote has never seemed more relevant to me than when I plan to write. Your head is full of these ideas. Brilliant, wonderful ideas. Life goes on around you, but you are lost in a fantasy land with make believe characters and then, life is on you, wanting you/needing you to do things. You wish you had a watch to pause life while you write. Write before your head explodes with wonderful dreams and stories.

There is always something that needs doing.
Always someone that wants something.
Always something else to be getting on with.
A million reasons not to write. And, for me anyway, one reason to write. I have to. I go Jack Nicholson if I don't write every day! Some days I may as well write "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"! But that's all part of it, isn't it. Writing, re-writing, editing, making your work as amazing as possible.

It comes down to time, of course. But more than that, it comes down to will power. It sounds cliché, I know that. But think about it - if you really want to, you will find the time. It is currently 22:30, my wife and son are asleep, and I'm typing away. Why? I grab what time I can. I wrote half an essay earlier, between kiddo going to bed and wifey getting home from work. I won't work on my latest book today, and maybe not tomorrow, but I will write, something. It is so important to get into a habit of writing something daily. It becomes routine. Just as it is routine to find a reason not to.

Having understanding family is also important. People do not generally like to see you sitting behind a computer screen for hours on end, (even if they are behind a mobile screen just as much), so make allowances for family time. Comprise and cut deals. Hell, you are an author, be creative!
Snippets of time are available to you, use them wisely. Do not be afraid to piss someone off once in a while, I usually do this if I coming to the end of a project, I will risk the wrath if I have a finished product to soften the blow!

Being a writer can be lonely, learn to love your characters, if you believe they exist, the reader will too and that is half the battle.

I had better sleep before life comes calling in the middle of the night in the shape of my child and I'm too tired to move.

Happy writing

Richard Dodd

Author of 'Fluffy Hugs'

https://www.facebook.com/fluffythemagicpenguin/?ref=hl

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fluffy-Hugs-Magic-Penguin/dp/1519517726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451919769&sr=8-1&keywords=fluffy+hugs+richard+dodd

http://www.richarddodd.co.uk

Introduction/About Me

Hello, and welcome to my new blog.

I had been meaning to set this up since my book was published last month. I have been writing since I was ten years' old. My year six teacher was a big inspiration to me. I remember her reading one of my stories aloud to the class and severely criticising the ending. I had rushed the end as I ran out of time and it finished with 'and it was all a dream!' I am still a little ashamed by that!

I had been writing adult novels, horror mainly but also sci-fi. Stephen King is my favourite author and I love to dream about emulating his work.

I have put masses of time and effort into some of my novels and none of them are near completion. That is why I chose to write and publish a children's book first. I used my best friend's painting of a baby penguin as the basis for my story. The painting is called 'Fluffy Hugs' and so I wrote a book with that same title. Fluffy is a magic penguin who can sense sadness and need in others. He can fix almost any problem with a simple hug. It is a story of family, compassion and Christmas.

I dedicated it to my teacher and my story was published in the local newspaper and on their website in an attempt to find her.
Just yesterday, I did find her through Facebook and I will be sending her a signed copy shortly.

She had no idea how much she had inspired me and that is why I am writing this this blog today. If I can inspire just one person to finish their book, I will be very proud!

In future posts, I will be discussing balancing time - life can get in the way of writing. Routine can help, as can snatching time to write. I will also talk about ideas, inspiration, characters and plot in upcoming posts.

In the meantime, check out some of the links below:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fluffy-Hugs-Magic-Penguin/dp/1519517726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451919769&sr=8-1&keywords=fluffy+hugs+richard+dodd

https://www.facebook.com/fluffythemagicpenguin/?ref=hl

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/authors-hunt-for-teacher-who-48821/