Click her Well hello all you readers out there. How is everything going? I hope everyone is getting some good quality reading done and if you are trying to write a book or novel this year then good luck. This post today comes from a discussion I had with one of my college professors this term. Let me set the stage for you really quickly, before we jump into the discussion.
This class that I am speaking of happens to be an English clash that is centered on writing research papers. So early on in the class we had to pick a topic that not only interested us but was also relevant to our audience. If you have been following me long than you now that literature takes up what little free time I have. So when it comes to something that interests me, the pickings are slim. So I decided to write about one of the biggest decisions a writer has to make; choosing to use indie publishing or going traditional publishing. Which leads me to what I want to talk about today, being an indie writer.
Now when I first set out to be a writer I probably had the same dream that most writers have. I wanted my book read and enjoyed. I imagined myself walking into a book store and seeing young adults eagerly reading my latest work. I hoped to one day see my books at libraries or other such institutions. Those were my dreams and goals when I first started writing. It wasn’t about money and selling out, it was all about creating joy in readers.
As I came to the end of writing my first novel I had no idea what would come next. I didn’t know anything about the publishing world or how it worked. I started watching videos and reading articles related to the topic of writing and getting published. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the topic.
Well long story short I decided that the easiest way for me to get my book into the hands of readers was for me to go through a traditional publishing house. After lots of searching and rejection letters I realized that first I would need a literary agent. Well before I set out to find one of those I started doing the math. I started looking at who I was going to have to pay out of my book sales and how much agents and publishers were going to want. I didn’t like the way that looked for me or my book series but I still wanted people to be able to enjoy my book. That left indie.
When I first started looking into independent publishing, or indie as I call it, I immediately felt like this was what I wanted to do. I got complete rights of my book and ideas. I got to pick the art work, the price and the setup of the book. I loved it.
Some people don’t like indie publishing because you really get out of it what you put into it. If you only work on your book, website, social media or marketing for only 20 min a week then chances are your book might not take off the way you want it to. With that being said just because you spend 40 hours a week on your book doesn’t mean it’s going to be a bestseller in the first week. For me though, I like the work. I enjoy building my own website, designing book marks to use a business cards and just selling my books. It makes it more special when I get a good sale month and it means the world to me when a fan tells me how much they loved my book. I am sure that there are writers who have had amazing times using traditional publishing houses but for me, I like being an indie writer.
e to edit.

Well it’s that time of the week again, Monday. Actually I am starting to look forward to Mondays because I have decided that they are going to be my update days. I already posted the newest installments to The Broken Scale and also to The Clash of Land and Sea. But enough about that, if you are here reading this Blog post then I can only assume that you already know about the updates. And no, I will not being telling you what happened to Draek and Hayden in this post, you will have to wait until next Monday for that.
So what do you guys want to talk about today? We could talk about what I am reading right now, what I am planning on reading. What movies I have seen or want to see. Or I could release book 2, The Clash of Land and Sea.
Ok, for real though. I really do need to release that book. I have been holding back on doing the detailed proof read and edit of the book because, well, I have been busy. What little bit of writing time I get I spend working on book 3 and doing some impressive work with book 1 (We will talk about that later, maybe next Monday). But I need to get the book out because I am sure you guys are ready to know what happens to your favorite dragons and their riders.
On a side note I am about to finish another semester in college and next semester I get to take a creative writing course, which is going to be amazing… I hope.
Alright, enough random rambling. Let’s get down to business, to defeat, the Huns.
So writing, let’s talk about it. Something that I want to bring up and ask you guys is about outlining. Do you outline? I am really wondering who out there in the writing world outlines before they ever start writing and what are you writing. One of my teachers is a poet but she says she never outlines. I, who writes young adult fantasy novels, do outline. Stephen King said in an interview that note taking and outlining are great ways to immortalize bad ideas. He said that if it is an idea worth writing about then you will write it and have no need for notes or outlines. Not sure I agree with him but hey, he is Stephen King so he can same pretty much whatever he wants. Like banana hammock.

How is everyone doing? Good, good glad to hear it. I am doing fine thank you for asking.

So the holidays are over and life is getting back to normal which means back to my busy busy life. School full time, working full time, trying to write full time, being a father full time and trying my best to be a good husband.

It is a lot but it all needs to be done. I wish that I had more time to spend working on everything. I have been thinking about making a work schedule for my personal life to try to manage my time better, what do you guys think about that? Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

So just to fill everyone in on what's been going on. I am working on my third novel, rewriting my first novel and cleaning up my second novel. That means my creative juices are all over the place right now but some how it is working.

The writing is going good even though it is a little crazy right now. I am trying to get my second novel ready for release and I think that soon it will done, which is weird to me. When ever I let people read my work I get a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, not sure if any of you guys feel the same.

Besides that I am currently reading a few different books. I am taking a stab at the Dark Tower series by Stephen King and also The Mortal Instrument by Cassandra Clare. I also got a handful of Star Wars novels to read and the entire set of Left Behind to dig into. I did just finish Magnus Chase, The Martian, A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms and a new book on dragon anatomy. I think I might start putting up some reviews for the books that I have read somewhere on the website but we will see. Not sure if I want to add that to my plate right now.

Well that's all for now guys so good luck reading and writing out there and I will see you next time.

Nic C.