PR #9 Enjoy the Process

My website is www.PaperbackRocker.com. You can find the podcast
archives there. Find my books on Amazon by searching my name, Matt
Syverson. Follow me on Twitter @PaperbackRocker. Email me at
bowiefan1970@live.com. Thanks for listening! The show notes are as
follows: It's 10:15 in the evening, and I should be writing, but
I'm not. Why is that? Because I finished "Blue Whiskey" for the
fifth or sixth time. I'm waiting on the cover and writing the back
cover copy, which has been difficult since it's not a plot-driven
novel like "Black Dog". It's a fictional autobiography of fictional
folk musician, Stanton Wheelhouse III. He's a serious musician, but
he ends up writing a one-hit wonder. The first draft was 400 pages
and 130K words, but I cut off the front part, which was the story
of the character's father. It was supposed to be more of an
historical novel, but the book got a lot better when I got to the
main character being born, so I excised the first 70 pages like a
skin cancer. The good thing about that is that I had a background
for the characters that provided a richness and depth. You can't
predict how art is going to unfold, but you have to enjoy the
process. That's the message of this episode. Try to enjoy all
phases of writing a book, from the first draft through the editing,
including the formatting and everything. And take your time.
There's no rush. It's like slow-cooking some ribs, which I explain.
I talk about an article by Kristen Lamb, in which she outlines five
mistakes self-published authors make. I agree with her number one
point. You'll have to listen to see what that is. I talk about some
big downsides of using a vanity publisher. I'm in a kind of lull,
because I've written every night for four years, and I feel like I
need to recharge the batteries after finishing "Blue Whiskey". The
book is going straight to hardback this time, since my hardback of
"Black Dog" has done well. One key to being a successful author is
having multiple entry points for readers. It just takes one
commitment from them at first, but they may become long-term fans
and reviewers. It drives me nuts how most authors just market to
other authors. I give some tips on how to break away from doing
that. I talk about the concept of 'enchanted serendipity' and how
it shows up in my life and my books. I wrap up with a discussion of
the movie "Reality Bites" and the slacker label that Generation X
had in the beginning. My dog, Lucy, airs her grievances at the end
of the show.