Good Writers are Good Readers

The business of writing books is different than other types of business. I have found that the majority of writers want to help each other out. Writing groups are formed and there's somewhere in the gazillion range of books written about how to be successful as a writer. It's not hard to see why. Both you and I can write a book and the same customer, in fact multiple same customers, can end up purchasing both of them. Competition is much different in this field. I read multiple books not only by the same author but eat up books in the same genre. When I was writing Welcome to Utopia I continued my quest of reading science fiction books with a similar angle. When I first starting writing the book I read titles from the past like 1984, Animal Farm (for the umpteenth time), Atlas Shrugged ( this is my favorite book, Rand is just a great fiction writer, wish she would have written more fiction), Anthem, The Fountainhead, A Handmaids Tale, The Third Revolution, The Hunger Games trilogy, The Founding Five, Black No More (this is one of my favorites), and many more. Each one of these taught me something about the genre I was choosing to write in and what works and what doesn't work in my humble opinion. Each of these titles are worth reading if you like the political/science fiction. I loved some, liked others, and didn't care for some of them. But each one is well written and goes along with that end of the world things have radically changed type story I love. I will let you draw your own conclusions. I have noticed that writers that consider themselves to the left politically usually have a depressing ending (read 1984 for the best example), and politically right leaning writers usually have a happy ending (read Atlas Shrugged or Black No More for examples). Each one of them had a fantastic way of pulling me in to the story and making me want to read more. I hope my novel does that to readers; I certainly have worked hard for that kind of reaction. What I do know is it really doesn't matter about the political influences of the author when they write a good story. Plus, each author has some bias that shine through. Cold Mountain, a love story right? Well, there certainly was some commentary within about slavery and equality of both blacks and women. Can't get away from it, I tried in other writings, comes out bland (BTW - I love Cold Mountain, both book and movie).

My point is for those of you who want to be writers it is important to read books in your genre. For the rest of you here is a list of books to read.

I have just finished my first book on marketing in the ebook world. I plan on adding a few titles before I review what I've learned and what has been helpful so far. It's exciting to read different techniques and ideas on how to better sell your book. Remember to get your kindle since that will be the first published version of my novel. Of course, you can read a kindle book on any device by downloading their app to your computer, phone, Ipad, whatever. Click here to get the app now so you can buy my book (unlike some authors I have no problem with the marketing of my work).

Two titles I read during this summer that I really enjoyed, Flashback, by Dan Simmons (thank you Marty for the suggestion) and The Last Centurion by John Ringo. Both of these authors used a lot of foul language just to warn those who may be offended. I am shamelessly plugging these two guys because I plan on asking them to write a blurb for my book. I read an article about getting authors in your genre to write up a review. I will update more on the process once I do it.

I have failed miserably on writing everyday since I went back to work. I'm giving myself a break since I've been busier that a one legged man in an - well - you get the idea. Since writing my plan here usually motivates me because I report to you  on a weekly basis I have decided to commit to free writing 10 minutes a day. That should be doable.

One final story. Malia (my daughter) came home the other day with questions her new teacher wants to know about her. We sat down as a family and went over the questions. When it came to her interests I asked her about writing since she has expressed some interest in writing songs. Her comment, "I don't want to go through what he (she pointed at me) went through this summer!" Writing is hard. Even a nine year old can see that.

God Bless...