I especially liked the comment on Jared’s package (although a full length picture may have demonstrated your point better) but yes, interesting; it’s been on my mind since my last visit here to your blog (letting off steam about self promotion) even researching and implementing some techniques on that very subject matter since; pontificating them even before I know what I’m talking about really (but I was always good at that; pretending I know it all – at least until the day I do and then getting embarrassed when I realised how stupid I might’ve sounded. But then that’s how I became me; got an education about the stuff they don’t teach you down there in the murky lower echelons of the socioeconomic ladder (pretentious? Nah… despite what they said; I was just in training to become obnoxiously but authentically insufferable, I always argued).

But yes, good point; how SHOULD I present MY story, just which one of my personalities would better serve my goals? Humph, you got me thinking. How should I present whom and not who I am when I seem to be stuck in a vortex that always arrives me on a planet, population me and which I have named Prolifica? Recently I took two weeks to decide whether to publish an anthology of complete and utter madness, not by any means for a discerning reader because its removed from my more serious titles, but presenting a side of me that most would keep hidden even if it did lurk within them; but in the end I decided that those stories were are a large part of me too; that I’m not like many; can’t stick to one genre, one style, and so ultimately, I have to listen to the voices; I’m strange, but I can market that… can’t I?

So after a big argument and many a strange face materializing in my looking glass (where my own package was all too evident and reminding me to put on pants but better than a table for seven… especially without the proper attire) I realised ALL of them were valid; all vying for attention, screaming and scratching, clawing behind that tempered glass actually (they don’t call me Sybil for nuttin’) yeah, me, multifaceted weirdo, that’ll work, SURELY, for if Amazon can put irregular shaped items in a gift bag then so the hell can I… but hopefully I’ll be able to deliver in time for Christmas (and that’s another, much less interesting story that nonetheless disappointed a one-yr-old in Italy). But will mainstream accept delivery? I dunno. With conviction, staying true to whom I am, perhaps my gift, wrapped with an unwavering ribbon of cunning manipulation, eventually, maybe, they will, I have to believe it. Failing that I’ll just have to save up to pay someone who knows what the eff they’re doing. LOL.

But your blog here has certainly given me pause for reflection in my full-length mirror where, strangely enough, that bitch, you know the one… full of self doubt… was conspicuously absent (probably up the pub getting sloshed… ‘cos she’s British an’ all.. or then again, maybe she just croaked it; haven’t seen her for a long while).

Enjoy the rest of your visit guys, and congratulations Jared.

(ps; Julie, I bumped into an old screen writing/actor friend the other day who says he knows you… he had an interesting opinion on marketing oneself too).

@Dean – I am familiar with EST, yes. While I’m very familiar with various spiritual paths along these lines, I don’t put myself into any category outside of “I like to have fun and life is more fun when I revel in that.”

As for Tori Spelling, you, sir, have complimented me as far as I am concerned. Although it sounds as if you may have seen me teach a class in my usual garb; numerous tattoos and hippy girl piggy tails. While you have never met me, I will agree, the photo is not very representative. I shall herewith update soonest. One seeks to look respectable but one now realizes one should just give up and be real.

They could have called it the “Try Not To Get In Your Own Way” school of thought, but that wasn’t grandiose enough, apparently.

Anyway, your article is not based on a lie like est. You don’t go over that line while emphasizing the, if you’ll pardon the expression, power of positive thinking. You managed to be inspiring while keeping your message logical and practical.

So, thanks for the words well written. I’m going to save and, occasionally, reference them. And I’ll try to heed their advice.

Now, about the pink outfit and the hair. I’m not gay, so my credentials on this subject are suspect at best, but this Tori Spelling look simply must go. Not that I have anything against Tori Spelling. It’s just that she’s not you. Okay, enough said about that.

Thanks again for the really cool article, which passed my est test with flying colors.

This is what makes flash fiction writers like myself very happy. I can point to this and say this is what it is all about.

Thanks for sharing this with us, Julie!

Jake
Jestjake@mail.com

I’m sorry that you felt jarred, imagine how the real life victems feel, which was Larssons whole point. I’m renting the movies this week in preparation for the american versions, (I’m a fan of swedish cinema) and am glad that both directors kept the rape scenes, as disturbing as they are, art should hold up a mirror to life and remind us of the things we would rather forget for the sake of our
delicate sensibilities.

Great article, interesting subject. X

Fincher and Zaillian have treated the material with respect and care. Fincher has never been more exacting. In Bjurman’s office, one of the cutaways is a closeup behind Salender’s ear. What lies ahead of the character is unclear: Bjurman’s blurry, threatening hand and paunch in the background of the frame. The foreground focuses on the her own self-inflicted piercing of her own flesh. If given time, the images like these are as haunting as any put Fincher has ever put on screen and rewarding for anyone who treasures this story.

I think there are some things that are so inherently, viscerally traumatic that they should only be *shown* when they are the focus of the story, and never just used for dramatic effect, or to convey character information, or the like. As you said, intimation is a fine approach.

Of course you’re right; it boils down to knowing how to get yourself noticed and putting aside some time to actually learn the tricks of the trade and becoming skilled at it – that was my point; that I didn’t want to have to do that, I’d rather just write. HOWEVER, I can recognise when I need to change, I’m adaptable, and it is something I have ventured into since going off on my little tangent here; not a person to dwell in ignorance or no can do or to get left behind – even if I am given to the odd whinge. In fact, you might say that the dämmerung (and I had to look that word up too, even though I do speak German and which I’ll probably use all the time now) on my own confused state, has already given way to morgendämmerung (not too hard to work that one out) and it CAN actually be quite enjoyable; I don’t know why I resisted; perhaps it looked harder than it actually is. In fact its already paid off; e.g. today I have had over seven hundred downloads, and counting, of four of my books both in the UK and the US on this new promotion thingy with Kindle – but nothing without having made myself found on various social networks. You are dead right too; word of mouth can journey this murky ocean, positively hover across it even, so I really hope that these winds migrate north! (Incidentally, if you do want to read any, or all, they are available free 25th & 26th December only – see what I did there?)

Finally, I only across your message today because I came back to this account to check out Julie’s Twitter details so that I can follow, because… wait for it… wait for it… yes, I have just opened one myself; sick of people asking if I’ve got one and then feeling kind of ashamed to say (very meekly, I might add) ‘no’. Are you impressed? By the way, thank you for the links, I will most definitely check those out too, and thank you for commenting as well. It was a pleasure. Happy holidays to you both.

I’ve been following Joe Konrath’s cynical and funny blog about self-publishing for the last year (A Newbies Guide to Publishing @ http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/ ), as well as the meticulous DIY records of David Gaughran (Let’s get Digital @ http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/ ). I recommend both for all considering self-publishing and for anyone looking for a brief on the fast and furious changes happening in publishing right now.

Objection #1: The idea that quality writing will drown in a vast stinking Sea of Mediocrity is absurd. Since the beginning of mass-production publishing the majority of all words published have been flat, generic genre crapola. In the late 1700′s the Sea consisted of proto-gothic romances,; the 1800′s flooded sentimental never-ending novels, churning out chapter after chapter of cliff-hanger to-be-continued’s through cheap magazines; and the 1900′s saw a tsunami of low crime, mysteries, and space opera style science fiction. But contrary to manure, its literary counterpart do not float for long. Who reads Mary Lou Maybee today?

Objection #2: Although the advent of digital self-publishing signals the dämmerung (I fess up. I googled that word) of print publishing companies, it does in no way imply that writers will no longer need the services of editors and agents.

The only, but crucial, difference today is that writers are no longer at the mercy of publishing companies to reach potential readers.

The tide is here, cling to a boat or learn to surf. Both work, so stop worrying about drowning, Mr. Mount! If marketing is not your strong suit, by all means hire a professional.

That said, one thing remains unchanged – the power of word of mouth in spreading a good story. And believe me, sir, ’tis is not only the Season, but the Time, of Good Writers.

Have a little faith. And get back to work.

However, despite the fact that a Brinks Security van ploughed into the back of my car today (isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?) well okay, rolled into me a little bit when I was waiting at a red, I’m much more affable today; I’m participating in Amazon.dot.com’s KDP Select book lending programme; I can offer to loan my books for free to the reader with a Kindle (not an app) on five days (I select) of every three months (if anyone’s interested, I’m easy to find from my Amazon page that will lead back to my own little blog where I can be contacted for dates). Hopefully that will bring a larger readership and therefore more reviews and that I won’t have to tug my own boat for too much longer. But still… I’m left wondering… who was that guy?

Big smile, and thanks again, I really enjoy your writing; I was meant to find it.

I couldn’t agree more with your sentiment here, but having entered into the world of self-publishing, still, I find myself adrift; lost amid a sea of rising mediocrity and much of what I’m seeing from the opinion of the reader, slamming indie work because of it.

The writing world is changing indeed; publishers going the way of video stores. And it’s not just technology, no, there’s a revolution authors and readers alike increasingly demanding something completely different. And why not, it’s happening in every other world? Publishers aren’t to be trusted, failed in doing their jobs, that much increasingly evident. No, not for much longer will they arrogantly scan a short paragraph that merely blends into their so-called talent scouting brains with the many other author’s paragraphs that came before it; not: seeing the woods for the trees; recognising individual worth; true talent, tossing it aside in all their professional conceitedness before they’ve even given it a fighting chance if so much as a comma is misplaced.

But it doesn’t matter; is this publishing revolution not tantamount to the same deal? Yes, we may sail a different ship in these digital times, on a deck from where at least we can send up a flare despite an ever-ending journey of blogging and slogging and flogging to create our perfect storms, to impede us, perhaps making complete twits of ourselves; inadequately trained to come through them in the hope that we can finally reach our destination by the stroke of our own oar, or perhaps that search & rescue will swoop down and scoop us up long before we expire?

And many wannabe writers happy to do so, self promote that is, but often under the misapprehension that somehow what they have to say about their largely uneventful daily lives is in the slightest way creative, believing that their ramblings actually count as creative writing; building a daily word count that doesn’t count at all, a simple abacus that they toy with. Earthbound but gone swimming, wearing nothing but fish tales (yes, T. A. L. E. S.) luring people into following them with cheap prizes and unenthusiastic writing competitions that largely, in my experience, mediocrity itself judges doing not a better job than publishers or agents before them.

But that rock congested too now, barnacles clinging in their masses, a pea soup of digital weakness closed in fast to obscure stunning marine life of those that breathe through the fins of creativity. Yes, ego-stroking oars paddled with a whip to the backs of their mediocre followers, following only to be followed and who might not actually follow at all, all set on a predictable synchronised course, most thinking that they can make a quick buck in Hollywood simply because they happened to put down 50,000 strokes during their entire lifetimes. And why? Because that’s all they ever see out there. ‘I can do that’, they say, and who can blame them? They probably can. And so they set sail and poison the waters grey, thicken the soup, most without actually having studied the art of writing at all, ignorant to the fact that it has to be different from their otherwise everyday eloquence that just any-old-body can tell and not show, and without actually possessing an imagination outside of the subliminal sub-consciousness of a pond life who can’t even be told, apparently, that there’s anything else other than boy meets girl, husband leaves wife for younger woman, and don’t even get me started on vampires and werewolves, for that horror show speaks for itself; that is what sucked the blood from true creativity – but therein, methinks, my own downfall, for I will not be assimilated.

And then there are those who have studied writing, but a choice, not a calling, like a slutty girl forced into the sisterhood, technically correct, getting the formula right, but reading a recipe that anyone with half a brain can follow. What about those who experiment in the kitchen, mix up new worlds? What about me?

I used to be much more modest, but I believe now that I might be one of those, for my readers, those followers I have managed to magnetise, consistently say so; they always have done, even when I first started this journey with no writing experience at all. People who don’t know me, for I don’t know anyone; have no family to stroke my own ego, nobody owing me nuttin’ except perhaps a little admiration, appreciation even, for the effort I put in to the detriment of my real life business not to mention my health; lost in and preferring my imaginary worlds as I am and I do, the migraines I work through to bring something new to the table. Yes, readers consistently saying that my novels should be movies, over and over again telling me how original I am, again even from when I was a complete amateur with starry eyes, strangers who’ve started forums about my work saying how it should be on the big screen. And why? Because they actually read it. And readers, who all but harangue me, thank God, to get Pt II of one of my novels out. ‘Where the hell is it?’ they’re shouting. And so yes, I’m grateful for this digital sea for at least I can cling to a buoy where they can find me. But still, it’s not enough; I am a writer, not a marketer; I suck at self-promotion, maybe even at pitching my books, even writing their synopses probably, but nonetheless, in 2012, I must try harder.

But how do you get noticed when you’re not the child of someone famous or when there is no panel of judges to give an unknown a chance, how can you convince the arrogant those who think they know what will sell, all demanding originality but failing their own rubric to actually embrace it when presented, positively shoved down the back of their effing throats? How the hell can I get on with my writing when I’m trying to sell myself? Happy enough to blog, tweet even, if ever I can get around to that too, but the effort of getting noticed, gaining followers, soaking up all my time in these unfriendly seas where everyone else is trying to do the same effing thing. Kudos to those who can manage that, but perhaps they have more time than that which I can afford or even want to dedicate to this kind of self promotion even if I did have the slightest inclination to host a competition, to seek out prizes of Amazon gift certificates or free copies of other people’s books to give away in exchange for a following who might not follow at all, thereafter and that I can only hope would share my work on their Facebook page or something so someone more important might chance across it. Isn’t this one of the reasons I wanted an agent for?

I invent cliché, I make up words, I utilise the natural resource I was given, have turned that burden of imagination that always boiled my blood more so than it stews even now when I think of the writing talent out there that may never come to shore. Yes, that something that makes people view a strange fellow like me as being completely removed from normal society but are intrigued by nonetheless, people who love to compare me to countless authors living and dead, Joyce, Salinger, King, Dali to name but a few, all greats and all of whom I’ve never read for I am a writer, not a reader, despite the fact my professor said a writer needs to be one. ‘Crap’, I say to that, for I am armed with my own voice, if only I could have it heard. But how then, if I am a combination of these by my own volition am I not considered a superpower… a writing god? Because I write with courage, passion and professionalism – and that, evidently is scary; too much to handle for an agent or a publisher.

For any agent reading this though, I invite you to my book, “Prickly Scots’, not for a professional perspective, but to sit back and enjoy, for that’s only how this work can be appreciated, digested; rich, nuanced and intelligent as it is, not a book you can read in one or two sittings, but one that, by the time you read it in its entirety, the second part will be available so that you won’t have to beg me to publish it like the odd person is doing online currently; a few only, perhaps, given my lacklustre efforts at doing your job for you, but making it all worthwhile; appreciated by at least someone at last. And don’t worry about not getting back to me; that’s a given from agents and publishers even when the old fashioned sase’s were sent, let alone an automated courtesy email, that at least tells me you’re in receipt of my manuscript (and how hard is that to implement into your email programme?) No, I don’t need you anymore, apparently, but a review to help me along my digital sea journey would be most appreciated if you do find an island a thousand miles from anywhere to actually sit and enjoy something genuinely different and dare to recognise new talent in its entirety for a change. What I need is someone who is going to tell the rest of us what we are going to like next. But then again, your boat, apparently, has sailed.

Anyhoo….

Is it just me… or do you get the sneaking suspicion that Julie or Jewels, as we like to call her, is collecting pumpkins under a harvest moon?

Thanks for the great post Julie!

Congratulations to all the Finalists, and best for Nov. 15, your log lines sound terrific.

Now back to it.

Best to everyone on November 15, and beyond!

Good luck to everyone!

Heather’s my wife and she used an incorrect link in her comment. Her website is http://www.hzdesignstudio.com. I may be biased but she is excellent at what she does (in addition to being a great reviewer of my scripts!)!!

Keep up the good work!

http://youtu.be/eeg1xvZkXqI

It made me realize that creature comforts and a fan base wasn’t it. Success for me is finishing a project after working horrendously hard and knowing I’ve done everything to make is as excellent as I possibly can.

The advice set me free. I won’t get any better than I deserve, but I’m not dependent on outside forces for validation.

It is actually FUN attempting to write screenplays however and so I persevere, dreaming of that magical moment when someone (like you) says, “Nice job old man!” When/if that ever happens, I’ll feel good inside! That’s why I do it.

:0

Brian

He said that she told him it was OK to tell the story, but she said, “Not in my lifetime.”

So maybe #8 is “Are willing to wait a very long time for a project to see fruition.”