Writing tips

Get Your Name Out There

/ Damean Mathews, Author / Leave a comment

That is one of the most important things an author new to the game needs to have on the brain. Spread your name as far and wide as you possibly can in an attempt to find your audience. Success very rarely comes to those who do not try to find it, especially in today’s world. You must find a way to reach your audience if you hope to give them your work and make your name known.

So who is your audience? And more importantly; where are they? Those are two questions you must be able to answer for yourself, and they are questions you should attempt to answer before you even try to put your work out. You have to know where to look to find the people who will truly appreciate your work. Just as much as you have to know what you are comfortable writing, you have to know who is going to be comfortable reading it. For instance it probably would not be the wisest choice to advertise a book about the occult on a church website or forum. You must be able to target groups of people who would at least be likely to enjoy your work. And it wouldn’t hurt to find people who can help spread that work to others who would like it as well; thus you have begun to build your fan base.

That is a huge part of this business. The fans are really everything. Not only are they the ones we write for most of the time, but they are our very life. It has been said that an artist, in the end , is only as good as his worst piece, so it really behooves the artist to find his muse and his audience, doesn’t it?

Beware Inconsistencies

/ Damean Mathews, Author / 2 Comments

I have recently become a victim of my own creativity. That is something an author must always be on the lookout for, and I’m ashamed to admit that I made such a rookie mistake. I started working away on Maverip 2 and forgot a couple of minor details that I’d already covered in part 1. Granted that mistake wasn’t too huge, and was easily fixed, it could have been much worse. Any real mistake or fluke in your writing can be something that could seriously cripple your career, or even end it before it began. You have to know every detail, both major and minor, about your work front and back and have things working in serious order. Self-contradiction in your work is something that will cause most agents and/or publishers to immediately disregard your work. And if they don’t catch it, by chance, then your audience will and it will likely ruin your fan base before you even build one. You have to pay very close attention to your work, and everything that involves it.

That being said, I am going to go and work more. I apologize for the short length of my posts of late, but I am in a roll and trying to take advantage of my lack of writer’s block. I think I will soon post another piece of my work if you all think it is a good idea. In the meantime, take heed that you do not contradict yourself or ruin a piece of your own work with inconsistencies. It can be the death of an author.

Killer stress

/ Damean Mathews, Author / Leave a comment

There are many things in life that can have negative effects on us. These things can range from the personal to the professional, and they can seriously damage our work if we aren’t careful. This post is about caution, as the one yesterday was, but in a different fashion. We, as authors, have to constantly be on the lookout for things that are going to kill our work. Personally I find the higher the stress level, the harder it is to write these days. Which, sadly is the exact opposite of what used to happen. When I first began writing it was the writing itself that helped lower my stress level, but now it seems that stress hinders me more than anything else. That is a very disappointing situation to a fifth year English major; stress is an essence of life, and if the one thing I was put on this earth to do is hindered by the one thing I have to do in order to be taken seriously  in that task then I am in a very tight spot. That’s a destiny that awaits all writers at some point in their lives; running into a spot that hinders all writing and makes your inspiration sporadic and trite. But there is always a way out, and this post is more relative to past posts in that it refers more to my post about inspiration. Because this post is a reference post it will be relatively short. The reason for this is because I am personally just getting over my own bout of writer’s block due to stress and am reaping the benefits of my return to my own creation. Maverip 2 is currently going very well, and I’m still looking for a publication deal for part 1 so you can all see the work I’ve done instead of having to just listen to me ramble about it. Tomorrow, I may post a bit of my work so you all can get an example of what I’ve done so it will sound less like I’m just sitting here blowing smoke in your faces. For now, enjoy whatever inspiration you are getting and write your hearts out like I’m trying to do. Thanks for sticking with me, and feel free to contact me with any comments, concerns, questions or feedback you have.

Dealing With Fraud

/ Damean Mathews, Author / Leave a comment

This will be a fairly short post I think, but one that is going to help a lot of people potentially. One of the biggest things you need to be on the lookout for as an author, especially if you are looking into trying to use online resources to get your name out there, is fraud. There are countless websites and individuals out there who would love nothing more than to take your money and leave you high and dry, and worse off than you were to begin with. If you are searching for online publication you have to be very very careful about who you trust.

One thing that is very beneficial to you in this field is caution. Google, although perhaps not the absolute most reliable 100% of the time, can be your best friend here. You need to Google the name and stats of any person or website you are considering before you entrust your work to them. If they are fraudulent there is a good chance you aren’t the first person they’ve tricked- but they’d love you to be next. An easy way to tell if these sites or individuals are trying to pull one over on you is whether or not they try to charge you before even looking at your work. This is something that can easily be forgotten when you’re being given a great pitch, believe me. I recently fell victim to one of these too-good-to-be-true situations and very nearly wasted my money trying to get somewhere with it.

Research is going to be your absolute best friend as you are starting out in this business, and a very reliable companion once you’re name is out there. Success can be ruined by falling into a scam. I don’t want to see it happen to anyone of you anymore than I want it to happen to me, so take heed here. 99% of the time Professionals will not charge you money to read your work, and they will not ask for a fee just to talk to you or give you opportunities. Do your research and enter this with caution, or you may well end up at the bottom of a deep dark whole of scam and trouble.