As I mention on February 12, I finished the first draft of my second novel, What Mystery Sounds the Echo. I’m following the sage advice of a multitude of authors I have admired and am giving it a rest for about a month before I begin reading it and planning out my revisions. In the meantime, I’m trying to figure out what to do with my time on the train.

But wait, there's more: In the interim

Rachelle Gardner posed this question:
“Is there any risk for writers of cannibalizing their own businesses as they seek to keep up with changing market requirements?”

My experience tells me that cannibalizing the business is almost a necessity for the indie publisher. As a largely unknown author with no budget for marketing, I have the daunting task of spreading the word about my novel How Deep Lies the Shadow. Word of mouth has been my primary strategy so far. Four years after publishing HDLTS, I can testify that it takes a lot more than WOM to go viral. It’s the elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Cannibalization of my novel took place gradually over time with a nibble here, a bite there till I get anxious about whether there’ll be anything left by the time it makes it gets any recognition.
But wait, there's more: Cannibalizing my writing

Through the wonder of Twitter, I connected with Robert Humes who wanted to share The Small-Mart Revolution with me. After some Twitter tag trying to work out our schedules, we finally sat down over Skype one afternoon and had the following conversation. I’ll apologize in advance for the low volume following the introduction. This was the first Skype interview I recorded, and I had some challenges with getting the volume right. I recommend turning the volume up after the introduction.

Listen to You Can’t Judge a Book: The Small-Mart Revolution.

Meet Robert Humes, MSHR—@BobbyHumes
Olympia, Washington · http://www.RobertHumes.WordPress.com
HR Multihyphenate; Sourcer and Career Coach; Crew Scribe

Yesterday, I completed my first draft of What Mystery Sounds the Echo. I celebrated by shaving my beard and getting a haircut (I also have new glasses, but that has less to do with my accomplishment and more to do with my advancing years). My wife was pleased to see me rid of the facial hair and without the wings. No more jokes about the Unabomber and auditioning for the Planet of the Apes. If you hit refresh a few times, you should see before and after photos in the site masthead.

Considering how long it took me to complete How Deep Lies the Shadow, I am pleased that I was able to complete this first draft in about a year. More amazing is that 99% of the draft was written during my train commute home from Seattle to Tacoma (about an hour). Even more amazing was the fact that I wrote it entirely on my iPhone. I improvised a stand for my phone using an old, yet stylish, business card holder. I mean who uses business cards anymore? Then I hooked up a bluetooth keyboard, which I set on my lap. My app for the project was Manuscript by Black Manna Studios. All together, I typed a whopping 176,850 words, which according to Manuscript is 708 pages.

Now comes the hard part. I get to read, edit, and revise all 708 pages. And this time, I’ll be seeking more feedback from test readers and running it by a professional editor before I go to print or e-book. Let me know if you’re interested in getting a sneak peak and I might send you few chapters. If you provide helpful feedback, I’ll send you more chapters.

But first, I think I’ll take a short respite from writing and get a few more interviews done for You Can’t Judge a Book. Watch for The Small-Mart Revolution this week. I’m currently discussing a time to meet with Grammar Girl to see what she’s reading. Watch for that one in early March.

I’ve mention in past articles the dilemma of the modern writer with a full-time job. Simply put, I’m torn between doing what I love to do (write stories) and doing what I’m told is necessary to sell stories (do social media). Not wanting to go the way of the dinosaur, I have tried to set aside time each week to work on my blog, post updates to Facebook, and connect with people via Twitter. I’ve had a few positive experiences with the efforts, but the rest of the time, I wonder if it’s worth it.

Then today, a friend forwarded a link to David Kazzie’s blog where he was talking about how his novel sales tanked over the holidays and, through the magic of a Kindle Direct Publishing promotion, did a 360 turn and skyrocketed to No. 68 on Amazon’s Paid Bestseller list in a matter of days. After 25,000 free downloads, Amazon shoppers started taking notice of this self-published novel. Through the residual effects of Amazon’s “people who bought this also bought…,” sales ranking, and who knows what other algorithms they have up their sleeve, David hit the Jackpot. Actually, Jackpot is the name of his novel, so the pun was intended.

But wait, there's more: The power of social media?