{"id":965,"date":"2014-01-24T19:28:35","date_gmt":"2014-01-24T19:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/index.php\/2014\/01\/24\/blog01-24-14\/"},"modified":"2014-01-24T19:28:35","modified_gmt":"2014-01-24T19:28:35","slug":"blog01-24-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/blog01-24-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts In Between Consulting Gigs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Punch-Computer\"Other than the Word Count shows, there have been very little in the way of blogs lately. I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a bit of procrastination involved in the reason of \u201cwhy not,\u201d but it\u2019s more than that.<\/span><\/p>\n

To be honest, until this week, I haven\u2019t done much by way of writing\u2014let alone blogging\u2014and my issue isn\u2019t so much time.<\/span><\/p>\n

God knows I\u2019ve been extraordinarily busy.  The consulting Program Manager life isn\u2019t for the faint of heart\u2014you\u2019re responsible for everything but have the authority to change nothing.  Yet you still have to deliver.<\/span><\/p>\n

I love that challenge, by the way.  Don\u2019t let me ever tell you otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

There.  I\u2019m doing it again.  Procrastinating.  And avoiding.<\/span><\/p>\n

See, I\u2019m struggling a bit and I\u2019m not the type of guy who normally asks for help.  One of the reasons I went \u201cindie\u201d is control.  I can write and publish what I want.  I can pick an editor I love (yes\u2014as an indie you NEED an editor.  See the bazillion posts on that particular issue all over the internet.  It\u2019s second only to cat videos).  I can choose the cover artist I like.  I can publish when I want in the format of my choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I hit a problem a couple years ago.  A famous author started to bring out books of her own with the same series name as mine.  And by \u201cbring out\u201d I mean be published by one of the big publishing houses.<\/span><\/p>\n

I tried to trademark my series name after the fact.  No dice.<\/span><\/p>\n

I tried to write to her, her agent and her publishing house.  Close your eyes and you\u2019ll see the number of responses I received.<\/span><\/p>\n

But\u2026no one has tried to send me a cease and desist order either.  Small blessings.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be changing the name of the series\u2014probably whenever I get book two done. But this entire situation and the walk through of this tough patch was done mostly alone.  Because I\u2019m a\u2026you know\u2026\u201dindie.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I typed earlier that I\u2019m not one to ask for help.  That\u2019s kinda of a critical flaw when it comes to being an indie writer.  I have NO issue asking for help in the Program Management life I lead by day.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in my “writer life,” it’s an issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

I tried a small press once\u2014not the best of business experiences for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

There certainly are other small presses out there.  Booktrope<\/a> has an interesting model and I like the folks who work there.  Ragnarok Publications<\/a> looks really awesome too\u2014and they signed Mercedes M. Yardley<\/a> who is a terrific writer, mom and all-around good person (and she has a stuffed dragon I\u2019m gonna steal someday).<\/span><\/p>\n

I just submitted a short story to Grey Matter Press<\/a>\u2014who also seem pretty awesome.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know, I know.  I\u2019m wandering a bit. We are coming close to my struggle here.  It\u2019s my blog, my therapy session.  Stay with me.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"042713c_1\"<\/p>\n

…but I don’t have the right temperment…!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

See, I need more structure to my writing.  I need somebody who \u2018gets\u2019 what I\u2019m trying to do and will work with me to make me a better writer\u2014and a better storyteller.<\/span><\/p>\n

I need someone to be blown away when I write something awesome.  I need them to kick me in the nuts when I don\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

The writing groups and individuals I\u2019ve met in this industry over the years provide bits and pieces.  Some good advice, some bad.  A lot of folks hawking their own books. And lots and lots of noise.<\/span><\/p>\n

This, more than anything else, is what I\u2019ve learned being an Indie writer.  I\u2019ve learned what I need to do better.  I\u2019ve learned what I can\u2019t do on my own.  I\u2019ve learned what I need to better the story<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I need a mentor, a confidant, a fan, an editor, a publicist and the crazy nun\/penguin from The Blues Brothers<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"blues_brothers_the_penguin-fromtheblackninjadotcom_zpscfe0f3ea\"<\/p>\n

Okay.  Maybe not the penguin.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In short, I think I might need to find a publisher.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor reals,\u201d (as my daughter says).<\/span><\/p>\n

Peace<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Other than the Word Count shows, there have been very little in the way of blogs lately. I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a bit of procrastination involved in the reason of \u201cwhy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c40-myblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}