2 books for $.99! Okay, but what's in it for you?

We often forget in the rush of events that point of entry in a pitch is the ruling factor. And if we enter incorrectly, we'll be overruled by readers who are deluged with thousands of Free or Save Now pitches.



A freebie or a reduced price mean nothing in themselves if the benefit can't be seen quickly. In fact, to be brutally honest, readers who've been burned before may fear that a free book is not worth the price...and that a $.99 book isn't worth a penny more.

But what can the benefit be if not price or the bland commonalities offered by so many others: thrills, romance, suspense, chills...? You won't find room on Twitter or the average free site listing to get across your difference.  So take whatever chance you get to nail your point of entry...as I hope to do right now by way of demonstration.




My Double Event Next Week--and Its Benefits for Readers

Free Event: 02/2-02/06: The Vanishing Magic of Snow--a reformatted and revised edition.
Benefits: Previous readers receive a free, properly formatted edition with light but important revisions. Others can enjoy a tale unlike anything else that's on Kindle--without charge. TVMOS will have special appeal for all readers who share my interest in the subject of manifestation, as popularized in The Secret. It concerns one ruined man's use of magic to escape The Great Recession--with a risky trick that killed his friend. Partly set in Toronto in the 1970s, TVMOS features cameos by some well-known people including: Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Linda Lovelace, Xaviera Hollander...
Link: http://tinyurl.com/m9ep5fs

Amazon Countdown Event: 02/02-02/09: Red Champagne--the second book from my new formatter and the first with my new cover artist. The Countdown Event offers layered savings before a return to the regular price:
02/02: $.99
02/05: $1.99
02/09: $2.99
Benefits: Red Champagne  has been described as combining Groundog Day and The Great Train Robbery. Extensive research puts readers on board the legendary train, The Twentieth Century Limited, in 1938. And in this book I've drawn on my background as a professional writer to give readers a unique thrill ride combining mystery, fantasy and magic. Reviewers have agreed that they've never read anything like it.
Link: http://tinyurl.com/maavygs


So, buy now...and save big...while you receive rich benefits!

Can I Be Writing When I'm Not?

You've all heard the stories of writers who never go a day without writing 8-18 hours. They may take a day off each week, month or year. Likewise, you all know of actors who don't bother with breaks between films. Good for them, for all of them. You read their books and watch their films...and curse your own lack of money and time.

But today let's consider two shining contrary examples. And, at the same time, let's rethink what it means to be working in art. This post is not a poke at Literary Factories or an argument that writers should write fewer books. I've set my sights on one question:

Are some artists actually working when they appear to be idle?



In the last thirty years, Daniel Day-Lewis has starred in 15 films.--with 'down times' ranging from two to five years. Famous for his role preparations, he recharges...considers his options...prepares his acting strategies...and gets into character.



Ira (Rosemary's Baby) Levin wrote seven novels and nine plays. from 1953-1997. Levin took fourteen years after his first book to give us Rosemary's Baby. After Boys From Brazil, he took fifteen years to return with Sliver, the title reflecting the format and length. Call him the Daniel Day-Lewis of the writing business. One can imagine him playing cat-and-mouse with his famous plot twists for as long as he needed to nail them. You don't tell a writer like Levin 'Just sit down and write the book.' He'd roar back, 'Shut up--I am writing!'

And:




Pat Conroy still takes his Southern time: six novels since 1976, with fourteen years between Beach Music and South of Broad, nine years between Prince of Tides and Beach Music. Did he work at his desk eighteen hours a day on these books exclusively? He'd have gone mad if he did. He recharged, planned ahead, and kept his motor running through efforts that pleased and relaxed him: a cookbook, a book of essays on 'military brats', a childhood memoir and a book about playing basketball at The Citadel. Six novels in four decades--but six that could not have been written any other way. Not by him.

Both writers made their fortunes through well-filmed versions of their work. So they could afford to take as long as they liked on their next books. True enough. But do recall: both writers took the years required to write books that brought Hollywood calling. And those years, we can be sure, involved some significant down time.

We all need to shake any shame we may have over down times of our own--and to lose all envy of those who work around the clock. The better we understand the nature of our own process, the more tolerant and patient we are, the more efficiently we will be able to work--yes, even when we're 'idling'.




My own mindset changed last year, After completing Red Champagne, I wanted to begin work immediately on the next Boss MacTavin mystery. But the story line hadn't come clear and my confidence level kept sinking. I spent a full month beating up on myself...while I hustled Red Champagne, paced and brooded, worked on my two blogs and worked out at the gym.

One day, at last, I felt the itch and started taking notes, not a thought in my head about how others work. It's always worked this way for me: notes first, then a detailed outline...then one day I know that I'm ready and start. The key difference for me, this time, was this: I understood that I'd been working, as a writer, all along: in the gym, on my blogs..I'd been working on my new book, in my own way.

Now, I don't have any ambition to 'sell' my style to everyone. My ambition is far simpler: to make clear that there are many ways of working on a book...and that writers who need down time should treat their working idle time with love and respect.

After all, there are saner ambitions than to end up like this:




And let this not be said because you would not take the time: